Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning applications. This is because parts of the complaint are late. The complainant also had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council dealt with his planning applications. Mr X says the case officers failed to properly engage with him and requested unnecessary information. He also says there were long delays. Mr X says he has incurred significant costs because of the Council’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
5. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• A decision to refuse planning permission
• Conditions placed on planning permission
• A planning enforcement notice.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X has complained about how the Council dealt with his initial planning application. He says there were significant delays and the Council requested unnecessary information and encouraged him to make an application when it knew permission for the proposed development would not be given.
9. However, I consider Mr X’s complaint about his 2019 application late. A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate as Mr X could have complained to the Ombudsman about the matter sooner. Furthermore, Mr X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector for non-determination if he was unhappy with how long the Council was taking to determine his application. He also could have chosen not to withdraw the application and appealed if planning permission was refused. I consider it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have used his appeal rights and the Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had the right to appeal.
10. Mr X can also appeal to the Planning Inspector if he is unhappy with how long the Council is taking to determine his most recent applications.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because parts of the complaint are late. Mr X also had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman