Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s planning application. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s retrospective planning application. She believes the application was considered differently because it concerned development which had already been built and that the Council considers such matters as too difficult to refuse and enforce against.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I have reviewed the evidence available and there is nothing to show Mrs X’s neighbour’s application was considered more favourably than any other.
6. The Council could not take into account that the development had already been partly constructed and it had a duty to consider the application as it would any other. The planning officer’s report shows the Council considered the issues Mrs X raised, including that the development would be overbearing and impact on her privacy, but decided the development did not cause such harm that it warranted refusal. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision and we cannot therefore criticise it.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman