Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not enforcing against planning breaches at a caravan site and how it investigated the matter. There is not enough significant personal injustice caused to Mr X by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating. We also cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X lives in an area with a caravan site. He complains the Council has:
1. not enforced against planning breaches at the caravan site for several years;
2. unreasonably closed its enforcement investigation;
3. not visited the site to assess the impacts.
2. Mr X says the development visually impacts the green belt land. He says waste water from the site causes smells. Mr X is concerned the Council not enforcing sets a precedent for unregulated green belt development. He wants the Council to visit the site, identify the breaches of its permission and enforce.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mr X, relevant online maps, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X has provided copies of complaint correspondence between him and the Council in 2021 and explains the matter has been ongoing for several years. Mr X’s complaint about this site and the Council’s enforcement decisions was the subject of a previous Ombudsman investigation in May 2022. All events prior to our 2022 decision have therefore not formed part of this complaint because we cannot reinvestigate matters we have already considered and determined. This complaint has considered the period from May 2022 to August 2024, the latter being the date Mr X complained to us.
6. Officers accept there have been planning breaches at the caravan site. Since Mr X’s previous complaint to us, the Council has not enforced against the site’s owners. Mr X says its officers have now decided to close their enforcement case. He says they have not visited the site as part of their investigations. Officers say they have determined the impact of the identified breaches is not sufficient to warrant the Council using its discretionary enforcement powers.
7. Even if there has been fault in the Council’s process here which has affected its enforcement decisions, we will not investigate. Mr X is not directly impacted by any of the issues at the site because he lives a significant distance from it. Mr X’s concerns about the Council’s decision not to enforce setting a precedent for no enforcement to happen with other green belt development is speculative, so is not an injustice to him that has occurred. In any event, enforcement decisions are made on a case-by-case basis so do not set precedents. Mr X is no more affected by green belt issues regarding the caravan site than other area residents, so this does not amount to a significant injustice to him. We recognise Mr X may be annoyed the site’s owner has not had enforcement action taken against them for planning breaches, but that annoyance is not a significant personal injustice to him. Any good fortune for the owner from the enforcement outcome is not Mr X’s injustice. The matters complained of and the planning outcomes have not caused Mr X such a significant personal injustice to warrant us investigating.
8. The remedy Mr X seeks is for the Council to continue its investigations and take enforcement action at the site. We cannot order councils to pursue enforcement cases nor use their discretionary enforcement powers. That we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants is a further reason why we will not investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• there is insufficient significant personal injustice caused to him by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating; and
• we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman