Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of a planning application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s approval of a planning application to convert an existing building on a nearby site to a boiler plant. He says the Council should have considered other sites on the applicant’s land as being more suitable and away from neighbouring residents.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X objected to a planning application to convert an existing building to a biomass boiler plant. He says he does not object to the purpose of the building but that this plant could have been placed in a new building on a different part of the site away from residential property. The Council approved the plans after considering the objections and seeking advice from a number of different statutory undertakers and authorities.
7. The Council as local planning authority is required to determine any applications which are submitted to it within a timescale specified in government guidance. It must consider the planning application for the site which is the subject of the plans and approve or refuse them. It has no requirement to consider an alternative site for the development.
8. We may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members. Instead, we focus on the process by which the decision was made. In this case there is no evidence that the planning process was flawed.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of a planning application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman