Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission to build a school close to his home. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. The complaint is late, and the Council’s decision was subject to court action. This prevents the Ombudsman from considering the matter, even if it had been received in time.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains for Mr X. He says the Council failed to set fair and reasonable planning conditions for noise and vibration in the planning consent for a school to being built near their homes. He says the noise and vibration levels experienced by residents, many of whom are elderly, were unbearable, particularly during Lockdown.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr Y and the Council. I also considered the information on the planning application and decision which is available on the Council’s website.

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What I found

6. In 2017 the Council received a planning application to build a school on playing fields close to Mr X’s home. He and many other residents objected to the proposal.
7. The Case Officer visited the site and prepared a report on the application. The report includes a summary of the objections received. The Officer considered the objections and explained why they believed the proposed development met the requirements of relevant policies, despite the objections received.
8. In 2018, the Council’s Planning Committee considered the application. Speakers for and against the proposal put their representations to the Committee.
9. The Council granted planning permission which included conditions to mitigate the impact of noise, dust, and vibration during the construction phase.
10. The law says a complaint must be made to the Ombudsman within 12 months of the complainant becoming aware of the matter. Mr Y says the Council failed to set fair and reasonable planning conditions for noise and vibration. However, the planning decision granted in 2018 contains conditions to mitigate the impact of noise and vibration. Mr X and Mr Y objected to the application and must have been aware planning permission was granted. I see no reasons they could not have complained in 2018, if they believed the conditions were neither fair nor adequate.
11. I am aware the Council’s grant of planning permission was subject to a Judicial Review (JR). This was been brought by a local pressure group.
12. Although Mr X and Mr Y were not, themselves, party to the JR proceedings, the substantive matter here is now outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, as explained at paragraph 4. We cannot consider the Council’s grant of planning permission, nor the information or evidence which it presented to the Committee, or the planning conditions as this is all central to the JR.
13. Therefore, even if the complaint were not made too late, all matters relating to the planning decision are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction

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Final decision

14. I cannot investigate this complaint. It too late and the planning decision has been subject to a high court decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman