Summary: Mr X complains that the Council have taken too long to consider his neighbour’s application for a Lawful Development Certificate for Existing Use. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council have taken too long to make a decision on his neighbour’s application for a Lawful Development Certificate for Existing Use for her business. Mr X says that as a result, he and his family are subject to ongoing noise nuisance.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mr X in his complaint and the documents provided by the Council.
4. I have written to Mr X with my draft decision and given him an opportunity to comment.

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What I found

5. In March 2019, Mr X reported his neighbour, whom I shall call Ms B, to planning enforcement for running a business from her home without appropriate planning permission.
6. The Council instructed Ms B to apply for planning permission. In June 2019, Ms B applied for a Lawful Development Certificate for Existing Use on the grounds that she had been running the business for over 10 years.
7. The target date for the Council to decide the application was August 2019. The Council have not yet made a decision on the application.
8. The Council says that the application is still being considered and it is waiting for evidence it needs to make a sound decision. The information provided by the Council supports this.
9. Although the Council has not met the target date to make the decision, the delay is not a result of fault by the Council.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman