Summary: Mr & Mrs X complain about the Council’s decision to allow overdevelopment of the site next to their home. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as it is too late. And there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the planning applications.

The complaint

1. Mr & Mrs X complain the Council has allowed overdevelopment of a site next to their home. They say they are overlooked.

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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. 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 investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr & Mrs X. This includes copies of the planning officer reports and the Council’s responses to their complaints.
6. They commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

7. In 2016 the Council received an application for planning permission to build three 3-bedroom houses next to their home.
8. The Council publicised the application and invited representations. Mr & Mrs X objected to the application because the impact on:
• Trees covered by preservation orders
• Parking and highways
• Overlooking
• Design not in keeping with the area
9. The case officer’s report considered the objections, but the case officer concluded the proposal was acceptable and recommended approval. The council agreed and planning permission was granted in 2017.
10. In 2018, the developer put in a new application for the site. This was for three 5-bedroom houses on the site, instead of the original 3-bedroom properties.
11. Again, the Council publicised the application. Again, Mr & Mrs X objected to the impact of the application for the same reasons.
12. The case officer’s report shows the Council considered the objections before concluding the application was acceptable. Planning permission was granted in 2018.
13. The Ombudsman’s jurisdiction comes from the Local Government Act 1974 (LGA 1974). The Act is exact about who can complain, what bodies they can complain about, and reasons for us not to investigate.
14. One of the reasons in the Act, is that we may not investigate any complaint where the complainant was aware of the matter more than 12 months previously. However, we may exercise the Ombudsman’s discretion to investigate if there are good reasons to do so.
15. Mr & Mrs X have confirmed they have been aware of the matters they are complaining about since 2016. They did not approach the Ombudsman until 2020. The complaint is therefore late.
16. I must consider whether to exercise discretion and investigate this late complaint. I have reviewed the information provided by Mr & Mrs X, including the case officer reports on the planning applications and information on the Council’s website.
17. When dealing with complaints the Ombudsman has no power to question the merit of any decision which has not been affected by any administrative fault, even though a complainant may disagree with it. We appreciate that individuals will have different views about decisions, but decision making is the function of the Council officers and members, not the Ombudsman. If a council has followed the correct procedures, taken all relevant matters into consideration, and made to a decision that takes these facts into account, the Ombudsman cannot question the decision.

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Final decision

18. I will not investigate this complaint. It is made too late and there are no exceptional reasons to exercise discretion. We have not seen any evidence of fault in the way the Council approved the planning applications for the site next to Mr & Mrs X’s home.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman