Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a development next to
Mr X’s home. This is because Mr X has not been caused an injustice as a result of any fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council granted planning permission for a new development on land next to his house. Mr X says the Council failed to properly consider the application in line with legislation and its policies. He says the Council’s actions have caused him stress and anxiety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant. I have also considered information about the development on the Council’s website. This includes plans and the Council’s delegated officer report.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The development has been the subject of two planning applications. The first application was withdrawn and the Council granted planning permission for the second application.
6. The development which was given planning permission sits at a lower land level to Mr X’s property. There is no direct overlooking from the new development into his property as the properties do not face one another and the first floor windows consist of roof lights. Planning permission has been given for a small single storey storage building on the boundary with Mr X’s property. The roof of the small building would be visable over the fence line but it slopes away from Mr X’s property.
7. The property sits to the east of Mr X’s property and it may be that some overshadowing may occur during summer months in the early morning. However, this would not be prolonged or significant.
8. Taking this into account we cannot show that Mr X has been caused an injustice as a result of any fault by the Council. This is because the Council is unlikely to be able to have refused planning permission because of the impact of the development on his property. This is because it has little to no impact on his property in terms of matters a local planning authority would usually take into account when reaching a decision to grant planning permission. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not been caused an injustice as a result of any fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman