Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about matters relating to the raising and lowering of the level of an area of land adjacent to Mr X’s home. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains that land adjacent to his home has not been lowered sufficiently and so he is still overlooked. He says the Planning Inspectorate refused advice from him and that it should reconsider its decision on the appeal made to it about an Enforcement Notice the Council served on the owner of the land in question.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the Planning Inspectorate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s responses to his complaint.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council issued an Enforcement Notice which required the owner of land adjacent to Mr X’s home to remove material to a depth of 0.75m and return the area of land identified in the Notice back to its original level.
7. The landowner appealed against this Notice to the Planning Inspectorate but lost the appeal in 2018. In 2020 works to lower the land were carried out and the Council visited the site and satisfied itself the Notice had been complied with.
8. Mr X complained to the Council that not all of the land area had been lowered. However, the Council explained the Notice did not require the entire land area to be levelled, only that covered by the hatched area in the plan in the Notice.
9. While Mr X is not happy with the Planning Inspectorate’s decision against the Enforcement Notice, this body is separate from the Council and we have no jurisdiction over it and cannot consider complaints about it.
10. I have seen no evidence to suggest there has been fault by the Council following the appeal. It satisfied itself that the work required by the Notice had been completed and told Mr X it had no powers to take any further enforcement action.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman