Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take action against planning breaches on the new estate Mr X moved in to. This is because an investigation now is unlikely to achieve a useful outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to address breaches of planning control at the housing development he moved in to. He says planning conditions required the building of a footpath and a turning circle before anyone be allowed to occupy the homes but that as the Council failed to pro-actively investigate, the breaches went unaddressed which meant there were problems with waste collections between August and December 2022 and hazardous conditions without a footpath and turning circle which were not installed until the end of 2022.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council that between August and December 2022 there were no footpaths, dropped kerbs and turning areas within the development site as required by the planning conditions for the development.
7. The Council responded to explain that it had only been made aware of these concerns when another member of the public had complained in January 2023 and it had not received Mr X’s complaint until the end of February 2023. It said it had carried out an unannounced site visit in January 2023 but no evidence of a breach of planning control had been witnessed. It told Mr X that its Planning Enforcement Team had not received any other complaints prior to January 2023 or since that time.
8. We do not investigate every complaint we receive and an investigation now is likely to achieve any useful outcome. Mr X could have raised a formal complaint to the Council’s Planning Enforcement Team sooner than he did which would have enabled it to have investigated matters at the time they were happening rather than after the event.
9. Moreover, while Mr X has referred to missed bin collections and a fear for the safety of residents, his personal injustice is limited.
10. In responding to my draft decision, Mr X said hundreds of emails had been sent by residents about the Council’s failure to uphold planning conditions at the site and that these started in September 2022 and not February 2023 when he made his formal complaint. The information provided by Mr X shows there was earlier communication with the Council about bin collections and with the Health and Safety Executive and the developer about parking and health and safety issues. However, regardless of the timing of his contact with the Council, the problems with regard the bin collections and footpath and turning circle were resolved at the end of 2022.
11. Mr X has referred to a judicial review case involving another resident but that is a separate matter to this complaint and not one we can comment on.
12. Mr X makes allegations of corruption against the Council and if he has evidence of this it should be given to the police.
13. Mr X says he and others suffered from a lack of access and safety measures and that the lack of footpath and the turning circle jeopardised personal safety and caused significant property damage amounting to thousands of pounds with bin collections also affected between August and December 2022.
14. While Mr X may have had safety concerns, I am not aware of any incidents which took place. It would be for the courts and not the Ombudsman to determine any claim for property damage and while there was clearly some disruption to bin collections in 2022, there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation into this matter now.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because an investigation now is unlikely to achieve a useful outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman