Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s grant of planning permission for a wall. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council or of significant personal injustice that would warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s grant of planning permission for a wall.

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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’s neighbour submitted a retrospective planning application for a wall at the back and side of his property. The Council granted planning permission in May 2020.
5. Mr X objected to the planning application and the Planning Officer visited the site.
6. The Planning Officer concluded that there was no significant negative impact on Mr X’s amenity by overshadowing or loss of privacy by the height of the wall.
7. The Planning Officer had the benefit of their observations following the visit as well as photographs and comments from Mr X and other neighbours, as well as the plans submitted by the planning applicant.
8. Mr X's dissatisfaction lies with the merits of the Council's decision but, in the absence of fault, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the Council's decision.
9. Nor am I persuaded that there is any significant personal injustice caused to Mr X by the increased height of the wall that would warrant investigation if there was evidence of fault.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman