Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council responded to her reports of breaches of planning control at a neighbouring property. Ms X said this caused her significant distress and resulted in damage to her property. We do not find fault with how the Council considered and responded to Ms X’s reports.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to take appropriate and timely enforcement action relating to alleged breaches of planning control at a neighbouring property. Ms X also says there were problems with how the initial planning application was considered. Ms X says this has resulted in damage to her property and additional costs and stress to her.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. We cannot usually investigate complaints about events that happened more than 12 months before the complainant contacted the Ombudsman.
7. Ms X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in February 2023, meaning anything that happened prior to February 2022 would be treated as a late complaint.
8. The original planning application was approved prior to February 2022, and I have seen no reason why Ms X could not have brought a complaint about this to us sooner. For this reason, I have not investigated how the Council considered the original planning application.
9. While the planning breaches Ms X complained about started prior to February 2022, the Council’s investigations were ongoing beyond this time. For this reason, I have investigated how the Council considered and responded to Ms X’s reports of breaches of planning control.

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How I considered this complain

10. I spoke to Ms X about her complaint and considered all the information she provided. I also considered all the information received from the Council.
11. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Planning enforcement

12. Breaches of planning control are defined in S171A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as:
• The carrying out of development without the required planning permission; or
• Failing to comply with any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted.
13. Planning enforcement action is discretionary, councils may decide to take informal action or not to act at all. Informal action might include negotiating improvements, seeking an assurance or undertaking, or requesting submission of a planning application so they can formally consider the issues.

National Planning Policy Framework

14. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied.
15. The Framework says effective enforcement is important to maintain public confidence in the planning system. Enforcement action is discretionary, and local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.

The Council’s Planning Enforcement

16. The Council publishes it local enforcement plan on its website. This says:
• The Council initially attempts to resolve breaches through negotiation and giving landowners a reasonable opportunity to right the situation. If negotiation fails, it will then consider if formal action is needed. The Council’s power to take formal enforcement action is discretionary.
• Where a breach of planning control is identified, usually the Council will give owners of property an opportunity to put the situation right and advise them what steps are needed to do this. If it identifies a development is considered acceptable in planning terms, the landowner may be given an opportunity to submit a retrospective application.
• The Council can serve an enforcement notice if something requiring permission has been built before permission is granted. This is an instruction to put things back how they were before work started. The Council will take this action if the work done is not acceptable, is harmful to the environment, or if the work is not in the public interest.
• Dealing with enforcement cases can be a lengthy and complex process so it is not possible to give a standard time for dealing with them.

What happened

17. Both Ms X and the Council have provided a large volume of correspondence and information covering the circumstances of this complaint. While I have considered everything I have received, I have only covered the key points below.
18. The Council approved a planning application relating to a property that neighbours Ms X’s home.
19. In June 2020, Ms X complained to the Council about work that had started which was not included in the planning permission. The Council visited the site that month and instructed Ms X’s neighbour to cease work and submit a retrospective planning application.
20. Miss X then complained about a change of use to the land, which would also have required approval. The Council investigated this but established it was a temporary situation in response to Covid 19 restrictions and not a breach of planning permission.
21. Ms X’s neighbour then submitted two applications (Application A and Application B) relating to the work the Council had instructed them to stop.
22. The Council approved Application A, subject to conditions, and asked the landowner to provide further information for it to discharge these. These discussions continued into 2022, with the landowner providing various reports and assessments to the Council in the meantime.
23. In September 2021, the Council updated Miss X on the enforcement and planning matters relating to her neighbour’s property. The Council also decided to seek enforcement action in respect of the unauthorised work that had been carried out prior to the submission of Application B, as the landowner had not yet provided the evidence necessary to consider this application.
24. The landowner then submitted further drawings and reports to support their application and the Council continued its dialogue with them.
25. In July 2022, the Council issued the landowner with a penalty charge notice for breaching their planning permission with unauthorised work.
26. In January 2023, Ms X complained to the Council about light pollution from the property because of planning breaches. An enforcement officer attended the property but decided this was related to internal lighting, which was acceptable in planning terms.
27. The Council received documentation relating to Application B and approved this, subject to conditions.
28. In response to our enquiries, the Council said it has received multiple repeat complaints from Ms X with documentation often running into hundreds of pages. The Council said it has always tried to engage productively with Ms X and answer her complaints. While Ms X does not agree with all the outcomes, the Council says it has directed considerable resources to its investigations and followed its usual process, seeking to use its discretionary powers reasonably and proportionately. The Council still currently has enforcement work underway to address the breaches of planning control it has identified that it believes still requires a remedy.

Analysis

29. The Ombudsman is not a planning authority and cannot decide whether a breach of planning control has occurred and, if so, what action should take place to resolve the breach. Instead, we investigate how the Council has considered matters and whether it has acted in accordance with the law, guidance and its own enforcement objectives.
30. Ms X has said she feels the Council ought to hire experts to review the reported breaches and instruct her neighbour to put their land back as it was prior to the breaches taking place. It is not for the Ombudsman to say what action the Council should take so I do not find fault here.
31. That said, we expect councils to carry out thorough investigations into enforcement complaints and consider the full range of enforcement options open to them. Even if a council decides not to take enforcement action, we expect it to record its reasons and explain its decision to any complainants. We would expect the council to do so without unnecessary delay. The Council has provided us with good evidence of its response to Ms X’s reports.
32. The evidence provided to me shows the Council has received large volumes of information and emails from Ms X throughout the timeline covered above. While it has not necessarily responded to every email and every specific point raised, I find it has broadly responded to all Ms X’s complaints and I do not find it at fault here.
33. After the Council received Ms X’s complaints, it visited the site and identified breaches of planning control. It instructed the landowner to cease work and submit retrospective planning applications so it could consider whether it would have otherwise approved the work. I find no fault with the Council’s actions here. It appeared to assess the situation and enter negotiation in line with its usual process.
34. The Council appears to have taken steps to stay updated on the situation and stayed engaged with the landowner to get the evidence it needed to consider their planning applications. The Council is also still pursuing enforcement action against the outstanding breaches. I do not find fault with the Council’s decision-making process.

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Final decision

35. I do not find fault with how the Council has considered Ms X’s enforcement complaints and I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman