Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning enforcement because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr and Ms X complain that the Council did not take enforcement action against a neighbour who has damaged their garden by their access to a garage built with planning permission.

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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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr and Ms X’s neighbour obtained planning permission in 2018 for a garage. They say that their front garden has been damaged by vehicles accessing the garage. They are also unhappy with the neighbour’s erection of a fence.
6. The Council investigated and found that a driveway had been built in 2019 at an angle. The Council confirmed that no enforcement action could be taken because the drive had been in place for more than four years. The Council also confirmed that the fence was permitted development and so no planning permission was required for it.
7. The Council says that any damage caused by their neighbour is a private matter and can be remedied in court and was not therefore suitable for enforcement planning action. The Council is not responsible for damage caused by another party.
8. The Council is satisfied that the most recent planning permission for the garage (in 2022) shows the road and garage in the correct place and therefore there are no grounds for enforcement action.
9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
10. I have considered the steps the organisation took to consider the issue, and the information it took account of when deciding not to take enforcement action. There is no fault in how it took the decision and I therefore cannot question whether that decision was right or wrong.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr and Ms X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman