Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled his planning application. This is because he has a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) which was reasonable for him to use.

The complaint

1. Mr X is the managing director of a development firm. He applied for planning permission for a development project. Mr X complained the Council:
1. handled his planning application badly;
2. failed to work with him as the applicant to seek positive outcomes;
3. was uncommunicative and acted unreasonably; and
4. failed to acknowledge its mistakes.
2. Mr X says the matter has caused delay in building the development, and financial loss to his firm from submitting and resubmitting applications.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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))
5. The Planning Inspector (PINS) acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The PINS 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.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X, the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code, and relevant online planning information.

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My assessment

7. Mr X seeks to complain about the Council’s handling of his applications rather than the planning outcome. But the process leads to the decision and we cannot separate one from the other.
8. Nor is the process itself the cause of the injustice Mr X claims; his dissatisfaction with any delay and extra cost stems from the refusal of planning permission. If the Council had granted permission it is unlikely Mr X would have complained to us.
9. We cannot say the Council has caused Mr X an injustice because we cannot decide whether it would have granted planning permission if it had proceeded differently. That would be for the PINS to decide. So it would be reasonable for Mr X to appeal to the PINS if he believes the Council made errors which led to it refusing planning permission.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for him to use his right of appeal against the Council’s decision to refuse planning permission.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman