Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council processed the complainant’s planning application or dealt with her report of a breach of planning control. The complainant had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector regarding her planning application. And we are unlikely to find fault in the way the Council considered the planning control breach.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, says the Council’s planning team has an ‘irregular relationship’ with her neighbour. She says it has allowed her neighbour to manipulate the outcome of Mrs X’s planning application and avoided enforcement action.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

3. 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.

4. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council refused Mrs X’s planning application. She complains about delays in processing her planning application. She also says the Council allowed her neighbour to manipulate the outcome of the application.
8. Any dispute about the merit of a planning application (or delay in the determination) can be appealed to a Planning Inspector. The Planning Inspectorate is an expert body, and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why Mrs X could not have exercised her right to appeal against the delay and/or the decision to refuse her planning application.
9. Mrs X also complains the Council allowed her neighbour to breach planning control.
10. Government guidance does not require councils to act against all unauthorised development. But they should act where serious harm to local public amenity is being caused. The decisive issue for the local planning authority is whether the breach of control would unacceptably affect public amenity or the unauthorised use of land or buildings merit protection in the public interest.
11. In this case the Council acknowledges the neighbour started the work before discharging the planning condition. But the application to discharge the condition has now been approved. It inspected the site and decided there is no breach of planning control. We may not question the merits of decisions which have been properly made. We do not comment on judgements councils make unless they are affected by fault in the decision-making process.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. I have considered the planning applications for both Mrs X’s property and her neighbour. I have seen no evidence of an ‘irregular relationship’ between the neighbour and the planning team.
13. Mrs X had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector about the delay in the decision on her planning application and about the refusal. She chose not to exercise that right. However, I consider it is reasonable for her to have done so, therefore the restriction described at paragraphs 2 and 3 apply.
14. It is unlikely that we will find fault in the way the Council considered Mrs X’s report that her neighbour has breached planning control.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman