Summary: Ms X complains the Council provided an inaccurate ecology report to another council and failed to respond to her contacts about this. However, Ms X’s property does not adjoin the development site the complaint concerns and there is insufficient personal injustice to her for the Ombudsman to investigate further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains the Council supplied another council with an inadequate ecology report and failed to respond to her contacts about this. She says new houses that will be built as a result will damage the local ecology.

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What I have investigated

2. I have investigated if there is sufficient potential personal injustice to Ms X for the Ombudsman to investigate the substantive matters complained of. I give my reason for not investigating the substantive matters at the end of this statement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the claimed injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read Ms X’s complaint and spoke to her on the telephone. I considered the Ombudsman’s role and powers. I shared a draft of this decision with both parties and invited their comments. I received none.

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What I found

5. Ms X lives just over half a mile from a site where new houses will be built. The Council provided an ecology report to the planning authority. Ms X says the report misrepresented the local ecology and the planning authority relied on it. She says she has rented grazing land on the site for a long time. She has a strong desire to protect local wildlife.
6. Ms X also says the Council failed to respond to her contacts about the report.
7. Ms X’s feelings about local ecology are understandable. However, her own property is some distance from the site, and she does not own land there. There is insufficient potential personal injustice to Ms X for the Ombudsman to investigate further.

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Final decision

8. I have discontinued my investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

9. I have not investigated the Council’s actions as there is insufficient potential personal injustice from them to Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman