Waverley Borough Council (21 012 035)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Dec 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, has complained about how the Council dealt with her planning application. She says the Council took too long to validate and determine her application and the planning officers did not return her calls. Mrs X says she has suffered financial losses because of the Council’s delays.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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))
- The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. 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 Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector after eight weeks if she was unhappy with how long the Council was taking to determine her application. I consider it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to have used her right to appeal. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal would not address all the issues complained about.
- Mrs X has also complained about the Council’s complaint handling. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the main issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor issues such as complaint handling
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it would have been reasonable for her to have used her right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman