Rother District Council (21 008 669)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because the complainant has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.
The complaint
- Mr Y has complained on behalf of Mr X about how he has been treated by the Council’s planning department. Mr Y says the Council’s officers were unprofessional and mis-managed the application. He says there have been long delays by the Council and it failed to properly communicate with Mr X. Mr Y says the Council’s handling of the application caused Mr X considerable distress and he has incurred costs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a government minister. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of a government minister. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr Y and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with his planning application. This is because Mr X has appealed to the Planning Inspector and the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters where someone has already used their appeal right.
- Mr Y says the complaint is not about the decision to refuse the planning application. Instead, Mr X’s concerns relate to how the application was handled by the Council. But how the Council dealt with the application is related to the decision which has been appealed. The Ombudsman cannot investigate when someone has appealed to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal will not address all the issues complained about.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has used his right to appeal to the Planning Inspector and the complaint is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman