London Borough of Croydon (21 014 681)
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 granted by the Council. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council causing significant injustice.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about planning permission granted by the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
- A neighbour opposite Mr X’s house submitted a planning application (to vary a previous planning permission) to allow the building to be increased in height with an additional window.
- Mr X objected to the planning application and the Council considered it in the Planning Officer report. The Council concluded that the increase in height (of 50cm) would not cause any significant loss of amenity to neighbouring properties.
- I am satisfied that the Council properly considered the planning application. Further, whilst Mr X may be unhappy with the changes, I am not persuaded that the planning permission itself causes such significant loss of amenity to him as to warrant investigation.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault causing significant injustice to Mr X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman