Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning matter. This is because the complaint is late and it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council causing Mrs X significant personal injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council granted planning permission for development on a site it previously considered too small for a new dwelling. Mrs X says the applicant has provided misleading information about the size of the plot and that they can only implement the planning permission as approved by stealing land from adjacent properties.

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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 fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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 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 reviewed Mrs X’s complaint and her correspondence with the Council. I also considered the planning application documents including the plans and the planning officer’s reports. I shared my draft decision with Mrs X and considered her response.

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What I found

6. Mrs X used to live on Road B. Several years ago another resident on the same road applied for outline planning permission to build a new house. The Council granted planning permission and the following year the applicant applied to confirm outstanding issues including the appearance of the new house before starting to build it. Again the Council granted planning permission but Mrs X is unhappy with the way it reached its decision. She says the applicant’s plans are inaccurate and do not show the true outline of the site as owned by the applicant. She says that the development is only possible by stealing land which belongs to third parties including her parents, Mr and Mrs Y.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council established the principle of development on the site, including the scale and layout of the new house, under its original outline planning decision. This decision dates to more than 12 months before Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and any complaint about it is therefore late.
8. The Ombudsman has discretion to investigate late complaints but I will not exercise our discretion in this case. This is because the planning officer's report shows the Council took account of material planning considerations and it is therefore unlikely we would find fault affecting its decision. The issue also does not cause Mrs X significant personal injustice as she is not an adjoining neighbour and no longer lives on Road B.
9. While the Council granted planning permission for ‘reserved matters’ more recently this application did not cover the scale or layout of the new house and it is not the Council’s role to resolve boundary disputes between neighbours. A grant of planning permission does not give a person any rights to build on land owned by another and if the applicant does begin to encroach on their neighbours’ land this would be a private civil matter between the parties involved. We could not hold the Council responsible for this, nor could we recommend the Council intervenes to resolve it.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and it is unlikely we would find fault causing Mrs X significant personal injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman