South Hams District Council (19 016 825)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Feb 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr and Mrs X complain about the way the Council has considered a planning application for a barn conversion near them. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant investigation.
The complaint
- Mr and Mrs X complain about the way the Council has considered a planning application for a barn conversion near them.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault, or
- the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- The complainants say they are unhappy with the way the Council consulted them about a planning application for a barn conversion near them. They say there were no site notices and they were given insufficient time to respond to the planning application.
- I note from the map and location plan that they live some distance from the building subject of the planning application. They will not be overlooked or overshadowed by the building and there are trees screening between. There appears no effect upon their amenity by the planning permission. I am not therefore persuaded that there is any significant injustice caused to them by the planning permission that would warrant investigation.
Final decision
- I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman