Northumberland County Council (21 014 479)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Feb 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about planning permission for lighting opposite his house. We will not investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time and there is no evidence of fault.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about planning permission for lighting opposite his house.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- I considered the complainant’s comments on my draft decision.
My assessment
- A planning application for a development opposite Mr X’s house was granted in 2017. The planning application partly related to lighting on an access drive. The Council discharged a condition requiring details of that lighting in 2019.
- I consider a complaint about the planning permission and subsequent discharge could reasonably have been made within 12 months of the decisions and so the complaint is out of time.
- The Council has since investigated whether the lighting is a statutory nuisance or in breach of planning permission and concluded that there are no grounds for further action.
- It is not for the Ombudsman to question the conclusions reached by the Council where they have properly considered a matter. The decisions therefore not to take enforcement action (planning and environmental health) were made without administrative fault and the Ombudsman would not therefore investigate these matters.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time and there is no evidence of administrative fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman