Summary: Mr X complains about lack of planning enforcement action by the Council in relation to a neighbouring property. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council causing significant personal injustice to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about lack of planning enforcement action by the Council in relation to a neighbouring property

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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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X complains about a lack of planning enforcement against a neighbour two doors away from his house.
5. He says, particularly, that enforcement action should have been taken against a door which had been created on the first floor (which could overlook his house) and a second point of entry for vehicles to the property.
6. The Ombudsman will only investigate a complaint where there is a fault causing a significant personal injustice to the complainant. In this case the second vehicle entry would not affect Mr X sufficiently to warrant investigation.
7. The Council says that the door opening does not have planning permission. The Council says that the owner told them that the door was temporary and would be removed at the end of the work.
8. The Council says that they will consider planning enforcement action if the door is not removed or a new planning application is made to authorise it.
9. I am satisfied that there is no administrative fault in the Council’s response concerning the door opening.
10. I appreciate that the building work has continued for some time on the property and must cause some frustration. However, I am not satisfied that there has been any administrative fault by the Council causing any significant personal injustice to Mr X to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

11. I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council causing significant injustice to warrant investigation.
     

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman