Mid Devon District Council (22 017 366)
Category : Planning > Enforcement
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Apr 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning enforcement because the matter is out of time.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that a developer failed in erect a fence which formed part of a planning permission on the land.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X says that a developer was required to erect a boundary fence as part of a planning permission granted in 2014 and completed in 2019.
- The developer offered Ms X 1,300 pounds in lieu of erecting the fence.
- Ms X pursued the matter with the Council in 2021 and the Council concluded, after a meeting with Ms X, that the matter was now concluded.
- I am satisfied that any dispute about enforcement of the planning permission could reasonably have been made within 12 months of the matter arising (by 2019 at the latest).
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman