Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council has granted planning permission for a previously refused application. He is concerned about the impact of the development on the area.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response.

Back to top

What I found

4. The Council granted planning permission for development near Mr X’s home in 2019. Mr X complained about the decision as he believed it was wrong. He said the Council had previously refused the proposal and nothing had changed. He was concerned the decision went against council policy and the local plan which set a boundary for development in his area.
5. While the development proposed may not have changed significantly between the first and second time the Council considered it, there were other changes which had to affect its approach to the application. These concerned: the Council’s policy itself, which is now out of date as the Council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing supply; and the recommendation to approve another major development nearby.
6. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s approach to this point and its decision but it is not for us to question it. The Council is correct to say a decision to approve other development further outside the development boundary means the application Mr X complains about must be considered differently. It is for the Council to determine what weight to give the considerations mentioned above and whether a proposal is acceptable; the evidence in this case shows the Council made its decision properly and we could not therefore criticise it, even though I recognise
   Mr X and others may disagree.

Back to top

Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman