Huntingdonshire District Council (21 015 289)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to consider the impact of a development on Mrs X’s home. This is because it is a late complaint and there are no reasons for us to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council granted planning permission for development near her home. She says the Council failed to consider the impact on flooding in the area and the impact of noise and smells associated with the development on her home.
- Mrs X says the Council’s actions have caused her distress and unnecessary time and trouble.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and information about the development on the Council’s website.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council granted planning permission for the development in June 2020. The Council sent Mrs X its final response to her complaint in January 2021. Mrs X did not complain to the Ombudsman until January 2022. Therefore, this is a late complaint.
- Mrs X was aware she was unhappy with the Council’s decision in June 2020 but she did not come to the Ombudsman until 18 months after the decision had been made. I cannot see this was caused by any delays on the part of the Council.
- We have the power to disregard the time limits on our investigations where there are good reasons to do so. However I cannot see any reason why we should investigate this complaint now nor any reason why Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner. Therefore we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman