Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning applications. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, has complained about how the Council has dealt with two applications she made to extend her home. She says there were long delays and the case officer asked for unnecessary information. Mrs X has also complained the Council made her property a non-designated heritage asset (NDHA) without telling her and applied unreasonable planning conditions. Mrs X says she has incurred significant costs as a result.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
4. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• a decision to refuse planning permission
• conditions placed on planning permission
• a planning enforcement notice.

5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered Mrs X’s complaint and the Councils responses. I invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision and have considered her comments in response.

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What I found

7. Most planning applications should be determined within eight weeks, although the time limit is 13 weeks for major applications. If the planning application has not been determined by the end of this period, and an extension has not been agreed in writing, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The applicant can also appeal to the Planning Inspector if they disagree with the council’s decision to refuse planning permission or any planning conditions imposed.

What happened

8. Mrs X applied to the Council for planning permission to build a two storey extension. The Council considered the application, but permission was refused due to the impact on the character of the existing property and surrounding area. Following this, Mrs X submitted a second application to extend her property. The Council again considered the proposal and granted permission subject to conditions.

Assessment

9. I will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Mrs X’s planning applications. This is because Mrs X could have appealed to a government minister.
10. Mrs X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector after eight weeks if she was unhappy with how long the Council was taking to determine her applications. She also had the right to appeal against the Council’s decision to refuse permission for her first application and the planning conditions it applied to the second application. Mrs X says the Council asked for unnecessary information and failed to tell her that it had made her home a NDHA. But these matters are related to the planning decision which could have been appealed. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone has a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal does not provide a remedy for all the claimed injustice.
11. Mrs X says her complaint about the Council’s decision to make her house a NDHA without telling her is separate to the concerns she raised about the planning applications. I understand the Council did not contact Mrs X at the time to tell her the property have been made a NDHA. But even if I could say this matter was not linked to the Council’s planning decision, my decision not to investigate would be the same as it was clear from the case officer’s report and the planning decision notice that this was the reason the first application was refused.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman