Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his neighbour’s planning application. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council affecting its decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to consult him about his neighbour’s extension. He also complains the Council failed to consider the impact of the extension on his privacy. He says he is now overlooked and he would like the Council to visit his property and take steps to restore his privacy.

Back to top

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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, the Council’s responses and the planning application documents. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and considered his comments.

Back to top

What I found

5. Mr X’s neighbours, Mr and Mrs Y, applied for planning permission to extend their property in 2020. The Council wrote to Mr and Mrs Y’s adjoining neighbours to invite their comments on the application but it did not write to Mr X as his property does not share a boundary with Mr and Mrs Y’s. It also posted an advert in a local paper and put up a site notice but Mr X did not see these.
6. Once the extension had been built Mr X contacted the Council to complain. He was unhappy he was not consulted on the application, said it provided a view into his property an he was unhappy the Council did not carry out a site visit to assess the impact it would have on his privacy.
7. The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (as amended) requires local planning authorities to consult on applications such as Mr and Mrs Y’s by writing to the owners of adjoining properties or by putting up a site notice. It also requires the authority to advertise the application in a local newspaper.
8. The Council exceeded its obligations under the 2015 Order by writing the owners of adjoining properties, putting up a site notice and advertising in a local paper. While Mr X believes it should have written to him there was no requirement for it to do so. It was also not required to visit the site and it is unlikely we could say it should have done so as Mr and Mrs Y submitted their application during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
9. Although the Council did not directly consult Mr X on the application the planning officer’s report shows consideration of the impact of the proposal on his privacy. The Council has further explained the reasons for its decision in its responses to Mr X’s complaints and I have seen no evidence to show the decision is affected by fault. We cannot therefore criticise it.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council affecting its decision.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman