Plymouth City Council (21 002 168)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 13 Jul 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We should not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a block of flats near his home. This is because he has not been caused an injustice significant enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council has granted planning permission for a block of flats near his home. He says the Council has failed to properly consider the impact of the flats on the surrounding area.
- Mr X says the new development will overlook his property and he and other residents will be subjected to noise and other nuisance behaviour.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- The complainant now has an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.
My assessment
- The Council’s planning policies say there should be at least 21 metres between two storey developments and this is increased to 28 metres when buildings are three-storeys or more in height. This is to protect privacy of occupants of dwellings.
- Mr X’s property is at over 40 metres from the rear of the proposed development. His property does not face directly on to the site. This distance is in excess of what is normally allowed under the Council’s policies.
- The new development will not have a significant impact on Mr X compared to what was there before. Therefore, I cannot justify the public cost of an investigation into his complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has not been caused an injustice significant enough to warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman