Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to notify him of the commencement of building works at a site close to his home. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says despite having submitted an objection to the planning application for a proposed development on a site close to his home, the Council sent him no further updates and he only knew about the start of work when the heavy machinery arrived on site four months before planning permission had actually been granted.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. 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)
3. 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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complaint.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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My assessment

7. The Council notified Mr X of the submission of a planning application for development at a site close to his home. Mr X submitted his objections to the application but he heard nothing further from the Council so he did not know the outcome of it despite having tracked the application online. Work started on site at the end of 2021, coinciding with the time Mr X decided to sell his property. The Council granted planning permission for the application in April 2022.
8. Disturbed by building works and upset he had received no warning about the commencement of work, Mr X complained to the Council. It explained there were no working hours restrictions on the site and that it had investigated and found work undertaken prior to the granting of permission had not been related to the application. While there had been no planning breach, it told Mr X its Environmental Health Team would look into his concerns about noise and hours of work.
9. It also explained that the notification letters it sends out to interested parties to an application state it does not reply to comments received or notify respondents of decisions on cases.
10. I understand work at the site came as a surprise to Mr X, and at an inopportune time because he was looking to sell his property, but the Council checked its system to see what had happened with regard to online tracking but found no problems and suggested emails may have gone to junk mail or were blocked. This is unfortunate but I have seen no evidence to suggest fault by the Council which warrants an investigation.
11. In responding to my draft decision, Mr X says the Council wrongly referred to unrelated developments in looking at work which started on site in December 2021, prior to the formal granting of permission. Whether this is the case or not, work started by developers in advance of a grant of permission is done at their own risk. It is noted the Council also referred to permitted development, where work can be carried out without the need for planning permission, and it investigated and found no reason to take enforcement action.
12. Mr X refers to the fact he did not receive the email updates the Council says it will provide and that it is just the Council’s word that there was no fault with its system. It is unfortunate Mr X did not receive them, but his situation was not significantly affected as he was aware of work starting in December 2021. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to the work being stopped and we would be unlikely to find fault leading to a recommendation that he should receive compensation.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman