Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a breach of planning control and an application to discharge planning conditions. This is because we are unlikely to find fault with how the application to discharge the planning conditions was dealt with. It is not yet possible to say if the complainant has suffered significant injustice because of any alleged fault with the Council’s enforcement investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X has complained about how the Council has dealt with a breach of planning control and an application to discharge planning conditions. Ms X says the Council should not have discharged the planning conditions and should now take action to ensure the conditions are complied with.

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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.

(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 Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council granted planning permission for a residential development in the area where Ms X lives. The permission was subject to conditions, some of which needed to be complied with before the development was occupied. The developer submitted details to the Council and the planning conditions were discharged.
6. Ms X is unhappy with the Council’s decision to discharge the planning conditions. However, I am satisfied the Council properly considered if the information submitted with the application was sufficient before discharging the conditions and the case officer’s report explains why the information provided was acceptable.
7. Ms X says the conditions are not being complied with. The Council accepts some of the planning conditions have been breached. It says it has been working with the developer to try and resolve the breaches and has recently received a planning application to address some of the outstanding issues. Once the application is validated, Ms X will have an opportunity to comment on the proposal. The Council says it will consider if enforcement action is necessary should the discussions with the developer break down.
8. Ms X has raised concerns about the Council’s enforcement investigation and says it should take action against the developer to ensure the planning conditions are complied with. However, as the Council’s enforcement investigation is still ongoing, it is not yet possible to say if Ms X has suffered any significant injustice because of any alleged fault with the Council’s investigation. The Council may still decide formal enforcement action is not necessary or it may grant planning permission to address the breaches. If Ms X remains unhappy once the Council’s enforcement investigation has concluded, she can return to the Ombudsman and raise a new separate complaint.
9. Ms X has also complained about the Council’s complaint handling. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor matters such as complaint handling.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault with how the Council dealt with an application to discharge planning conditions. It is not yet possible to say if Ms X has suffered any significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault with the Council’s enforcement investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman