Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the process the Council followed leading to its decision to grant planning permission for a two-storey extension to a property next to the complainant’s home. We have not seen evidence of fault in the process followed by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council:
• Failed to properly validate her neighbour’s planning application
• Failed to respond to her requests for a site visit
• Failed to consult the Highways Authority and local wildlife trust
• Failed to consult and engage with her as a statutory consultee and where the Public Sector Equality Duty applies
• Failed to consider the adequacy of the access for construction, the protested trees and hedges and the nearby nature reserve
2. Mrs X says this has affected her health and the Council’s actions have ruined her view because her hedge has been destroyed. She wants:
• £17,150 compensation for expenses, outrage, distress, and loss of view/amenity
• A tree protection plan assessment and traffic management plan
• Review of training and policy for the Council’s policy of planning application consultations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I considered:
• information provided by Mrs X, including the Council’s responses to her complaint.
• the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement
• relevant planning legislation; and
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. Mrs X’s comments on the draft version of this decision.

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My assessment

6. Planning controls the design, location and appearance of development and its impact on public amenity. Planning controls are not designed to protect private rights or interests. The Council may grant planning permission with conditions to control the use or development of land.
7. Local Planning Authorities must consider each application it receives on its own merits and decide it in line with their local planning policies unless material considerations suggest otherwise. Material considerations concern the use and development of land in the public interest and include issues such as overlooking, traffic generation and noise. People’s comments on planning and land use issues linked to development proposals will be material considerations. Councils must take such comments into account but do not have to agree with those comments.
8. Planning authorities must publicise all planning applications. Depending on the nature of the development, publication may be by newspaper advertisement and/or site notice and/or neighbour notification (The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995). The notice will invite ‘representations’ for or against the application and explain how those representations may be made. The opportunity to make comments and objections is not the same as being consulted. The authority must consider all material representations it receives but officers will not enter a dialogue with members of the public who have objected to a planning application.
9. Mrs X complains the Council failed to consult her as a statutory consultee about her neighbour’s application for a two-storey extension. And failed to respond to her requests for a site meeting
10. The Council’s Statement of Community Involvement sets out how it will consult on planning applications. It states the Council will publish applications on its website and send letters to neighbours immediately next to the site.
11. In this case, the Council has confirmed it wrote to adjoining neighbours including Mrs X. The letters clarified the timeframe for making comments. It also explained what is and is not a material planning consideration and that officers do not respond to individual letters or objections.
12. The Council also confirms:
• the planning officer visited the site
• the officer raised concerns about the drawings and plans submitted with the application which show part of the proposal overhanging neighbouring land
• the applicant was advised the case could not proceed until the correct ownership certificate was provided
13. The Council received new plans, the correct ownership certificate and confirmation that no part of the proposed extension would overhang the neighbour. It considered the drawings were acceptable for determining the application, showing dimensions and location. Once the new documents were validated, new consultation letters were sent.
14. As an owner of a property adjoining the application site, Mrs X is entitled to be notified about the proposal. However, neighbours are not statutory consultee and the Council is under no obligation agree to her request for a site visit.
15. The planning officer prepared a report on the scheme. This includes a summary of Mrs X’s objections to the proposal. Her concerns about party wall matters are not material planning concerns which the Council could consider.
16. The report sets out the relevant planning local and national planning policy. It specifically considers the impact on Mrs X’s home, including light levels. The officer also notes the impact on other neighbours and on parking.
17. Matters such as:
• Private covenants
• Boundary disputes
• Private right of access
• Damage to property; and
• Problems arising from construction such as noise, dust or construction vehicles

are not material planning considerations and cannot be considered by the Council when determining planning applications.

18. Having considered the material planning matters the planning officer recommended the application for approval. A senior officer agreed, and the application was approved under the Council’s scheme of delegation.
19. Mrs X also says the Council was pre-determined, was biased against her. She also says the Council failed to consider the Public Sector Equality Duty and to comply with its equality scheme. Having reviewed the Council’s processing of the planning application, I have seen no evidence of bias.
20. The Equality Act makes it unlawful for organisations carrying out public functions to discriminate on any of the nine protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010. They must also have regard to the general duties aimed at eliminating discrimination under the Public Sector Equality Duty.
21. We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. But we can make decisions about whether an organisation has properly taken account of an individual’s rights in its treatment of them.
22. As stated above, planning controls the design, location and appearance of development and its impact on public amenity. Planning controls are not designed to protect private rights or interests. The Council told Mrs X about her neighbour’s application and considered the relevant objections she made. Mrs X has been able to access this process. I have not seen any evidence to show the Council failed to have due regard to its duties under the Equality Act.

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Final decision

23. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we have not seen evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with her neighbour’s planning application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman