Mole Valley District Council (24 015 178)

Statement Upheld Enforcement 27-May-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to take prompt enforcement action against her neighbours’ breach of planning permission. We found the Council to be at fault because it allowed the case to drift and so took too long to act. This caused Mrs X avoidable frustration, time and trouble. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, made a symbolic payment and improve its customer service.

Lancaster City Council (24 022 353)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 27-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council failing to deal with dilapidated properties in part of a town in its area and it not responding to a Councillor’s concerns about the matter over two years ago. There is insufficient significant personal injustice to Mr X caused by the matters complained of to warrant us investigating. Investigation of the Council’s handling of the Councillor’s correspondence would not achieve a worthwhile outcome. We do not investigate councils’ complaint handling where we are not investigating the core issue giving rise to the complaint.

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (24 008 444)

Statement Upheld Enforcement 26-May-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to properly investigate and enforce breaches of planning control he reported on a site near his home, which he said affected his privacy and caused issues with drainage. The Council took too long to decide there was no breach of planning control and did not properly explain its decision making to Mr X. This caused avoidable distress for Mr X, and for others who lived near the site and raised enforcement concerns across the same period. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and others, and pay a financial remedy to Mr X. It will also issue reminders to planning enforcement staff.

Teignbridge District Council (24 018 861)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 26-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to take action against a breach of planning control. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions and further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

London Borough of Haringey (24 021 372)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 26-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission. This is because the complaint is late and we have seen no reason why Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

Lancashire County Council (24 011 445)

Statement Not upheld Enforcement 22-May-2025

Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not take action against a neighbouring landowner who breached planning permission. We find no evidence of fault.

London Borough of Hillingdon (24 020 893)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 21-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a breach of planning control and a retrospective planning application. This is because we are unlikely to find fault. The complainant has also not suffered significant injustice.

Westminster City Council (24 022 316)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 21-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions following reports of breaches of Building Regulations. The complaint is late, and we have seen no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

Braintree District Council (24 021 841)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 20-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement matter. This is because it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs X. The Council accepts it made an error in closing the initial report in 2023 but has decided the breach complained about does not warrant enforcement action and I have not seen any evidence of fault in the way it reached its decision.

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (24 023 124)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Enforcement 20-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with breaches of planning control. This is because we are unlikely to find fault. The complainant also had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.