Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning matters associated with premises near Mr X’s business. We investigated some of the matters in 2023 and the remaining issues raised by Mr X more than 12 months ago and we will not exercise discretion to consider them now.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council has failed to address complaints he has made about a neighbouring business site since 2012 and since he complained to us in 2023. He says the Council has failed to carry out the findings of the previous Ombudsman decision and a recent stabbing incident in the area has increased his concerns.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the council has failed to take action over planning breaches by a neighbouring business since 2020 and since we investigated a previous compalint (ref 23007226) in 2023. He says his property was damaged by a fire from an unauthorised smoking shelter at the business in 2020 and it was later rebuilt without planning consent causing him to fear of future incidents.
7. The Council says that the shelter was refused planning approval but it was subsequently approved on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate in 2023 so it has no enforcement role. We cannot consider decisions made by the Inspectorate which acts on behalf of the Secretary of State, not the Council.
8. Mr X says there have been incidents of obstruction of a turning area by the business over several years and they continue to the present day. This was part of his previous complaint to us and we concluded in 2024 that we would not consider further complaints about the area because it is not subject to planning conditions and so the Council cannot carry out enforcement.
9. Mr X could have raised these issues following our 2023 decision but did not do so. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking. I have seen no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
10. Mr X says he is concerned about the site because in 2025 there was a fatal stabbing in the area. This was a criminal matter and there is no involvement of the Council, Mr X or the planning process related to the incident.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about planning matters associated with premises near Mr X’s business. We investigated some of the matters in 2023 and the remaining issues raised by Mr X more than 12 months ago and we will not exercise discretion to consider them now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman