Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council granting planning permission to vary the design of an air duct the complainant says causes fumes to affect his home. This is because we have already decided a previous complaint about the original proposal, and the change of design cannot have the effects the complainant claims so it does not warrant us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr W say the Council has failed properly to consider the effect of a change in design of a flue when granting planning permission for it. He says it causes fumes to affect his home, in turn affecting his health and his property’s value.

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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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr W complained to us in 2020 about the effect of a development the Council had granted permission for in 2008. We decided not to investigate as there was no evidence of fault by the Council.
6. In 2021 the site operator applied to vary the original planning permission by installing a different design of intake flue on the building. Mr W complains the Council approved the application but the flue causes fumes to affect his home.
7. The new flue design cannot cause fumes to affect Mr W’s home because it is an intake flue, not an exhaust flue. The injustice he claims cannot therefore result from the grant of permission in 2021.
8. If Mr W’s home is affected by exhaust fumes, they could only be from part of the development about which we have already decided a complaint from him in 2021. We will not entertain repeated complaints about the same matters.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr W’s complaint because the injustice he claims cannot result from the Council’s grant of permission in 2021, so it does not warrant us investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman