Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to take planning enforcement to reduce the height of a boundary wall built by her neighbour which overshadows her garden. There was no fault in the way the Council made its decision not to take enforcement action.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action against her neighbour, who built a high wall on their shared boundary without planning permission. Mrs X said the wall overshadows her garden.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and discussed it with Mrs X. I read the Council’s response to the complaint and considered documents from its planning enforcement files, including the planning enforcement officer’s site visit notes.
5. I gave Mrs X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered the comments I received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Planning law and guidance

6. Councils should approve planning applications that accord with policies in the local development plan unless other material planning considerations indicate they should not.
7. Planning enforcement is discretionary and formal action should happen only when it would be a proportionate response to the breach. When deciding whether to enforce, councils should consider the likely impact of harm to the public and whether they might grant approval if they were to receive an application for the development or use. Government guidance encourages councils to resolve issues through negotiation and dialogue with developers.

What happened

8. Mrs X’s neighbour built an extension in 2017.
9. Mrs X complained the boundary wall is over 2 metres in height and the Council has failed to take enforcement action.
10. I discussed the case with a planning enforcement officer who sent me a copy of his site visit notes made in December 2021.
11. The planning officer notes said that the wall formed part of a single storey extension, which had planning permission. The note went on to say that, in any event, even if the wall was a separate structure, it caused no additional impact as it was lower than the roof height of the extension. For these reasons, the enforcement officer decided no further action was justified.

My decision

12. We are not a planning appeal body. Our role is to review the process by which planning decisions are made. We look for evidence of fault causing a significant injustice to the individual complainant.
13. The planning enforcement process we expect is as follows. We expect councils to consider allegations and decide what, if any, investigation is necessary. If the council decides there is a breach of control, it must consider what harm is caused to the public before deciding how to react. Providing the council is aware of its powers and follows this process, it is free to make its own judgement on how or whether to act.
14. In this case, the planning enforcement officer considered Mrs X’s allegations, visited the site, and decided there was no breach of planning control. This is the decision making process we expect and so I find no fault.

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Final decision

15. I completed my investigation as there was no fault in the way the Council made its enforcement decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman