Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant further investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council failed to properly consider the impact of a streetlight on her property when determining an application to discharge a planning condition.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

4. As part of an application to discharge the planning condition the applicant submitted a plan showing the position of several proposed new streetlights. One of these streetlights is located outside Mrs X’s home.
5. Mrs X is concerned about the position of this streetlight and the impact it will have on her property. She believes it should be positioned elsewhere, further from her home. She also questions the accuracy of the plan submitted by the applicant.
6. The Council has now approved the streetlighting plan and discharged the planning condition and we cannot therefore say it must make changes as Mrs X would like. I have however considered whether there was evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision to determine whether we should investigate further with a view to achieving some mitigation for Mrs X. In reaching my decision I have reviewed the streetlighting plan, the Council’s responses to Mrs X’s complaints and the planning officer’s report for the application to discharge the condition.
7. Having reviewed this information I have found no evidence of fault by the Council; we cannot therefore question its decision. While I appreciate Mrs X is unhappy with the position of the lighting column it is a matter for the Council to decide, based on the information available, whether the impact of the columns is acceptable. The planning officer’s report shows the Council took account of the impact of the lighting columns in reaching its decision to discharge the condition and Mrs X’s concerns are addressed in the Council’s responses to her complaint.
8. We cannot therefore question the decision or achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs X by investigating the matter further.

Back to top

Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman