Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to tell him about the reserved status of his land. We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking. And it is reasonable to expect Mr X to ask the courts to decide if the Council is liable for financial costs.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to tell him that his land was issued a reserved site status is 2019. He says he spent £20,000 on improving the access to the land and solicitor’s costs. To resolve his complaint Mr X wants the Council to:
• Immediately retract the reserved site status.
• Change the land status to allow a planning application.
• Compensate him for the distress this has caused and for the financial costs he has incurred.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. I understand Mr X spent about £20,000 on improving access to his land and to cover solicitor’s fees in the anticipation of being able to develop the land. However, his land was given reserved site status by the Council during its local plan process.
7. The Council has no legal duty to tell individual landowners of changes to the status of their sites when it updates or prepares its’ Local Plan.
8. It is the responsibility of landowners or their agents to track and check the Local Plan process.
9. Mr X wants the Council to change the status of his land to enable him to submit planning applications. As we cannot require the Council to change its Local Plan, this is not something the Ombudsman can achieve.
10. The Ombudsman cannot determine liability as this is a matter for the courts. It is therefore reasonable to expect Mr X to ask the courts to decide whether the Council is liable for the £20,000 which he has spent on the site, plus any compensation he considers he should receive.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because;
• We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
• We cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking; and
• We cannot decide whether the Council is liable to pay Mr X compensation including his costs.
   

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman