Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about its decision to grant his neighbour planning permission for a raised patio in 2016. This is because the complaint is late and I have seen no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate it.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council granted planning permission in 2016 for development which impacts on his privacy.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with him and considered his comments.

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What I found

5. Mr X contacted the Council in 2015 to report that his neighbour had built a raised patio adjacent to the boundary with his property. The Council investigated the matter as a breach of planning control and invited Mr X’s neighbour to submit a retrospective planning application to regularise the development. Mr X objected to the proposal but the Council granted planning permission for it in 2016.
6. Mr X contacted his councillor to complain about the decision in 2020 and referred his complaint to us in January 2021. His complaint is therefore almost four years late. Mr X suggests the main reason for his lateness is that he was told by someone working for the Council that he had five years to bring his complaint to us but this is not correct and I have seen no evidence of this advice.
7. The planning officer’s report also shows the Council took account of the impact of the patio on Mr X’s privacy when it made its decision in 2016. Mr X suggests his neighbour misled the Council about the position of the patio but for us to show maladministration by the Council we would have to be able to say the officer failed to properly consider information which was available to them at the time. I have reviewed the online planning casefile and have seen nothing to suggest this is the case; I therefore consider it unlikely we could show the Council was at fault for its decision in 2016 so long after the event.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and I have seen no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman