Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application for a development near the complainant’s home. This is because he is unlikely to find fault by the Council and the complainant has not been caused any significant injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, has complained about how the Council dealt with a planning application for a development near her home. She says the development will have a significant impact on her home and garden. Mrs X has also complained the developer started works before planning permission was granted and has still not complied with the planning conditions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Mrs X’s complaint and the Councils responses. I invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

4. When a local authority receives a planning application it must look at the development plan and material planning considerations to decide if the proposal is acceptable. Material considerations relate to the use and development of the land in the public interest and includes matters such as the impact on neighbouring properties and the relevant planning policies. It is for the decision maker to decide the weight to be given to any material considerations in determining a planning application.
5. Outline planning permission establishes the acceptability of development, subject to latter agreement to details of ‘reserved matters’. Reserved matters may be any or all of access, appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale of the development.

What happened

6. The Council received an application for outline permission to build four houses at a site near Mrs X’s home. It granted permission with matters relating to access, scale, appearance and landscaping reserved. The Council later received a reserved matters application and granted permission subject to conditions.
7. Mrs X has complained about how the Council has dealt with the application. She says the development will have a significant impact on her home and garden. She also argues that similar developments have been refused in the past because of the impact on the area. Mrs X complains that the Council allowed the development to start before planning permission was granted and says planning conditions have still not been complied with.

Assessment

8. I will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application for a site near Mrs X’s home. This is because it is unlikely I will find fault by the Council and Mrs X has not been caused any significant injustice.
9. Mrs X has complained about the impact the development will have on her home. She says the new houses will be too close to her property and cause a loss of light and privacy.
10. The case officer addressed the impact on neighboring amenity in their report. The report said the distance between the existing and proposed properties is in line with its policy. The case officer also said the development will not cause overlooking, loss of privacy or overshadowing. The Council added planning conditions to restrict new windows for two of the new houses and another condition requiring some of the windows to be obscurely glazed and fixed shut to prevent overlooking. I understand Mrs X does not agree with the Council’s decision to grant planning permission, but the case officer is entitled to use their professional judgement when deciding if a proposal is acceptable. As the Council properly considered the impact of the development, in line with its policy, it is unlikely I would find fault.
11. Mrs X has also complained that the developer started building before planning permission was granted. However, I cannot say this caused Mrs X any significant injustice as the reserved matters application has now been approved. The Council has also confirmed that it is working with the developer to ensure the planning conditions are discharged.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because he is unlikely to find fault and Mrs X has not been caused any significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman