Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a planning application. It is reasonable for Ms X to have used her right of appeal to the Planning Inspector.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council have delayed deciding her planning application and have determined the submitted landscaping proposals are insufficient without good reason.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
4. The Planning Inspector (PINS) acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• A decision to refuse planning permission
• Conditions placed on planning permission

5. 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In 2023 Ms X made a planning application to the Council.
8. Ms X complains the Council communicated poorly and caused unnecessary delays around this application.
9. We normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Ms X did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2025. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I have considered whether to exercise our discretion to investigate this part of the complaint, but I have seen no good reasons to do so.
10. In April 2024 Ms X submitted a further planning application.
11. Ms X complains there have been delays, poor communication and errors in processing the application. A decision has not been made on the application. The Council did not correctly recognise her self-build status and asked for a Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) report.
12. Ms X also complains the Council rejected her professional landscaping plan and are asking for unreasonable landscaping conditions. This includes asking for the replacement of a protected tree which was not there when Ms X bought the property.
13. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone has a right to appeal to PINS, even if the appeal could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. The Planning Inspector can consider appeals about delay and the conditions placed on a planning permission.
14. It would be reasonable for Ms X to appeal to PINS about the delay in deciding her application or with any conditions imposed.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is reasonable for Ms X to have used her right of appeal to the Planning Inspector.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman