Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to install a paved area in front of the complainant’s home. It is unlikely we will find fault in the Council’s actions. And, while the complainant considers the area unsightly, we do not consider she has suffered a significant personal injustice which warrants our involvement.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs D says that following completion of a new estate opposite her home, the Council has left an unkempt verge. Dropped kerbs allow drivers to cross the verge, churning up the grass and mud. This is untidy and unsightly.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs D and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs D is unhappy with the Council’s decision to leave a grass verge outside her and her neighbour’s homes while the new estate opposite them has paving or tarmac. She says this unfair and wants the same surface outside her home as is outside the new properties.
6. I have seen nothing to show the Council offered to install a paved or tarmacked verge outside the homes of Mrs D and her neighbours. The Council accepts motorists churn up the verge. However, with no parking restrictions on the road it cannot stop people driving over the dropped kerbs and verge. It says Community Warden are visiting the road on their regular patrols to monitor the situation and will liaise with the Highway Authority on relevant issues.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint as it is unlikely we will find fault in the Council’s actions. And while I understand Mrs D considers the area unsightly and the situation unfair, we do not consider she has suffered a significant personal injustice which warrants our involvement. Nor can we require the Council to install paving or tarmac.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman