Broads Authority (22 015 460)

Category : Planning > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 06 Mar 2023

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has offered a private mooring to a third party without seeking planning permission for a change of use. This is because the complaint is late, the Council’s actions do not cause Mr X significant injustice and we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council agreed to provide a private mooring for an individual without seeking planning permission for change of use from public to private mooring. He is also unhappy with the Council’s handling of the planning application and that it has failed to take enforcement action against itself for the unauthorised change of use. He says this has affected his enjoyment of the mooring and he is unhappy he contributes to its upkeep when it is not available for use.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
  2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. 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)
  3. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about certain types of contractual or other commercial transactions. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. Mr X found out the Council had allocated the mooring for private use in June 2020 but did not complain to the Ombudsman about the matter until February 2023. His complaint is therefore late.
  2. It is also potentially subject to an exclusion from investigation set out in the Local Government Act 1974, as set out at Paragraph 4 above. This is because the issue concerns an agreement between the Council and a third party for the private use of the mooring.
  3. In any event, we will not investigate this matter further as it does not cause Mr X significant injustice and there is nothing worthwhile we could achieve for him by investigating further. This is because there was never any guarantee Mr X could have used this particular mooring (which is one hour away from where he keeps his boat) himself and the amount he contributes towards the maintenance of this mooring specifically is not likely to be significant.
  4. Further, the Council has now altered its position on the issue and is in dispute with the third party about their right to the mooring. The dispute is a legal issue and this is not something we could interfere with. Therefore, even if we were to investigate the matter we could not recommend the Council takes any particular steps to resolve the issue.
  5. There would be no benefit to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of the planning application as this point does not itself cause Mr X significant injustice.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is late, the issue does not cause Mr X significant injustice and we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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