City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (22 017 018)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 May 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a neighbour’s planning application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council granted planning permission for her neighbour to build a side and rear extension, a loft conversion and rear dormer windows. He complains this will have a negative impact on his home and will block light to his utility room window.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not review the Council’s decision on a planning application to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
- I appreciate Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision but this itself is not evidence of fault. The planning officer’s report shows the Council specifically considered the impact of the development on his property and decided it was acceptable. The Planning Officer’s view is a matter of professional judgement and I have seen no basis for us to question it. We cannot therefore say the decision was wrong or that the Council must now alter the permission.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered his neighbour’s planning application.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman