Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s planning application and her report of a possible breach of planning permission. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council affecting its decisions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s planning application. She also complains the Council has failed to enforce the terms of the planning permission.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Ms X’s main concern relates to her family’s privacy. She says that as a result of the Council’s grant of planning permission and its refusal to enforce a measurement given in the planning officer’s report her family are overlooked and do not feel safe.
5. The issue in this case relates to screening between Ms X’s property and her neighbour’s. Ms X refers to the planning officer’s report as this states screening of 1m in height would be provided between the neighbour’s property and her own. She considered this insufficient at the time to protect her family’s privacy and complains that now it has been built, the screening is lower than 1m and she has been proven right.
6. We cannot find fault with the Council’s decision on the basis of the impact now that the development has been built; we must judge the Council’s actions based on the information it had at the time it determined the planning application. The planning officer has explained the reasons why the development is acceptable and the law does not allow us to question their judgement.
7. The planning officer’s report does state at several points that there will be 1m screening along the boundary but this is clearly an error. The plans give a clear overall measurement, which has been complied with, and the drawings support this. We cannot therefore say the error wrongly affected the decision to grant planning permission. There is also no basis for enforcement action as there has been no breach of the planning permission.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the Council’s decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman