Buckinghamshire Council (21 016 324)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council considered a planning application. 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 the way the Council considered a planning application.
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
- Mr X says that the Council should have reconsidered a planning application after it had previously been considered by a Planning Committee and planning permission approved.
- Mr X asked for a second reconsideration in November 2020 but the Council refused as they considered that the planning application had been properly considered.
- I take the view that Mr X could have made his complaint to this office within 12 months of November and so the complaint is out of time. Even if this were not the case, the Council properly took into account the request for a second consideration of the planning application by the Planning Committee. Their decision was made without administrative fault and therefore the Ombudsman could not question this decision.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time and there is no evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman