Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s planning application. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council wrongly granted planning permission for a two-storey extension which overlooks the rear of her property. She says the extension will affect her privacy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I reviewed Miss X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I shared my draft decision with Miss X and invited her comments.

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What I found

4. Miss X’s neighbour applied for planning permission to extend their property in 2019. Miss X objected to the application and raised concerns about the impact of the extension on her privacy. The Council’s planning officer considered Miss X’s objection but decided, on balance, that the proposal was acceptable. Miss X disagrees with this view. She says it does not meet the Council’s guidelines for minimum distances between facing properties and that the Council did not take account of her objection.
5. While Miss X clearly disagrees with the Council’s decision I have seen no evidence of fault in the way it was reached. The planning officer did consider Miss X’s objections and the impact of the proposal on her property and acknowledged the proposal breached the Council’s guidelines. But they explained the reasons they considered the proposal acceptable and it is not for us to question their judgement.
6. Miss X says there are inaccuracies in the planning officer’s report but the points she has highlighted concern the planning officer’s judgement. They are not factual inaccuracies as Miss X claims and do not provide grounds for us to criticise the decision.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman