Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’ complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for his neighbour’s extension. The complaint is late and it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council granted planning permission for development which overshadows his property. He says he has suffered loss of light to several rooms in his house.

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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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I also considered the content of the planning officer’s report. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and considered his comments.

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What I found

5. Mr X’s neighbour applied to the Council for planning permission to extend their property in 2019. Mr X objected to the application on the grounds of overlooking and loss of light but the Council approved it. It considered Mr X’s comments and set out the reasons it decided the proposal was acceptable.
6. Mr X complained to the Council about the impact of the development in 2020. The Council investigated whether there had been a breach of the approved plans but decided there had not. It also explained how it had reached its decision to grant planning permission.
7. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s decision but his complaint is late. The Council granted planning permission for the development in early 2019 and Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman about it until October 2020.
8. We have discretion to investigate late complaints but I have seen no good reasons to exercise our discretion in this case. The Council has explained how it reached its decision and why it considers the impact of the development acceptable. The law does not allow us to question the merits of its decision and I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the decision as reached. It is therefore unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman