Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs Q’s complaint about the District Council’s handling of a planning application and planning enforcement. This is because part of the complaint is late. Nor are we likely to find fault with the District Council’s failure to take enforcement action. And another body is better placed to consider part of the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Mrs Q, complained about the actions of North Kesteven District Council. She said the District Council’s handling of planning applications was faulty. She said it then failed to take enforcement action over flooding from a new development of properties.

Back to top

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. 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)
4. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mrs Q provided. I considered the information the District Council provided. I invited Mrs Q to comment on a draft of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

Background

6. Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) manage local flood risks, for example risks of flooding from surface water and ground water. Lincolnshire County Council is the LLFA in this case.

What happened

7. Mrs Q’s area has been prone to flooding for many years.
8. The District Council approved two planning applications for a development of new properties several years ago. Statutory consultees, including Lincolnshire County Council, said surface water from the proposed development would not place an additional burden on the existing drainage network.
9. The developer later contacted Lincolnshire County Council as LLFA. Following those discussions, the developer created a flood attenuation pond. The developer did not get planning permission before doing so. The flood attenuation pond flooded in 2018.
10. Following contact from the District Council the developer made a retrospective planning application for the flood attenuation pond. The District Council approved this in 2018. Lincolnshire County Council and the water authority did not object to the design of the flood attenuation pond.
11. The District Council believes the new development and flood attenuation pond are unlikely to be the cause of flooding in the area. It believes there is inadequate capacity in the drainage system. It said there is no enforcement action it can take. Lincolnshire County Council – the LLFA – is investigating the cause of the flooding.
12. Mrs Q believes the District Council failed to properly consider the proposed new development and its design. She believes the faulty design resulted in the flooding she now suffers at her home. She is also unhappy the District Council failed to take enforcement action.
13. Mrs Q complained to us in 2020.

Analysis

14. We will not investigate this complaint.
15. The District Council approved the planning applications Mrs Q complained of more than a year before she brought her complaint to us. So a complaint about the applications is late and there are no good reasons to consider them now.
16. There was no enforcement action the District Council could take once it approved the retrospective planning application for the flood attenuation pond. So we are unlikely to find fault for its failure to take enforcement action.
17. Mrs Q is understandably concerned about the flooding she has suffered in her home. However, the District Council does not believe the new development of properties or the flood attenuation pond caused the flooding. Lincolnshire County Council, as LLFA, is investigating the cause of the flooding. So it is better placed to consider the complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

18. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Analysis.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman