Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of planning applications relating to a site in her locale for which planning permission have been granted for a large housing development and a new link road. We will not investigate the complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X seeks.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complains about a number of issues concerning a planning permission granted in 2019 and a Minor Material Amendment application to amend 2 conditions relating to the original permission. She says the development of a new link road and housing estate in her locale will cause her distress and inconvenience and will impact on her enjoyment of part of an ancient woodland which will be affected by the development. She wants the permission granted to the original application to be revoked.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I gave the complainant the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what she said.

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What I found

7. In 2019 the Council granted planning permission for a hybrid application which comprised of a full planning application for a new link road and an outline planning application for a large housing development. This decision was the subject of an unsuccessful judicial review challenge so the permission granted remains extant.
8. In 2020 the Council received a minor material amendment application to vary two conditions relating to the 2019 permission. The first amendment sought the separation of a single landscaping condition which covered both the road proposal and the residential development and the second proposed amendment which related to speed tables and the inclusion of a separate cycleway and footpath along the link road. This application received permission in 2021 and the Council made clear in the officer report that the principle of development and those matters for which there was no material change within the application could not be considered further.
9. Unhappy with the development and the way the applications had been handled, Ms X complained to the Council setting out her concerns and seeking the revocation of the original application. The Council addressed her complaint under its complaints procedure and, while it apologised for delay in uploading some documentation to its website and its failure to respond to some individual emails from Ms X, it satisfied itself that her concerns about the 2020 application had been given due consideration by officers and the planning committee.
10. Dissatisfied with the outcome of her complaint, Ms X complained to us.

Assessment

11. As a court has already ruled on the legality of the 2019 planning permission, this is not a matter we can now investigate. Moreover, even if there had been no court case, Ms X’s complaint about matters relating to the 2019 application is a late complaint because we would reasonably have expected her to have complained to us sooner.
12. The 2020 application concerned two specific conditions and it was not a review of the original decision. An investigation by the Ombudsman would be unlikely to add to the investigation already carried out by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X seeks.
13. In responding to my draft decision Ms X says the judicial review which took place is not connected to the issues she has raised in her complaint and that it is only more recently that she became aware of issues she thinks shows the 2019 application was not properly dealt with by the Council. However, even if we investigated, our investigation would not lead to the revocation of the permission and nor would we be likely to conclude, but for the fault claimed by Ms X, that a different outcome would have resulted. The challenge on the legality of the 2019 permission was unsuccessful and the 2020 application related only to those matters for which amendment was sought.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman