Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to delegate the decision to approve a planning application subject to conditions. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the planning application.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Miss X, complains:
• Council Officers lied to the Planning Committee
• the Planning Committee failed to listen to the concerns of residents or councillors
• she could only speak to the Committee for three minutes
• the Council failed to consult a conservation officer or Historic England

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Background

5. Planning controls the design, location and appearance of development and its impact on public amenity. Planning controls are not designed to protect private rights or interests. The Council may grant planning permission with conditions to control the use or development of land.
6. Local Planning Authorities must consider each application it receives on its own merits and decide it in line with their local planning policies unless material considerations suggest otherwise. Material considerations concern the use and development of land in the public interest and include issues such as overlooking, traffic generation and noise. People’s comments on planning and land use issues linked to development proposals will be material considerations. Councils must take such comments into account but do not have to agree with those comments.
7. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a material consideration in deciding planning applications. It sets out a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”.
8. A planning officer will normally visit the application site and write a report assessing the proposed development. The report will:
• refer to relevant planning policies and the planning history of the site
• summarise statutory consultee comments and those from the public and other organisation; and
• consider the main planning issues for deciding the application.
9. The assessment often involves the planning officer in balancing and weighing the planning issues and judging the merits of the proposed development. The report usually ends with a recommendation to grant or refuse planning permission.
10. A senior planning officer will consider most reports, but some go to the council’s planning committee for councillors to decide the application. The senior officer (or councillors at committee) may disagree with the case officer’s recommendation because it is for the decision maker to decide the weight given to any material consideration when deciding a planning application. Development usually gets planning permission if the council considers it is in line with planning policy and finds no planning reason(s) of enough weight to justify a refusal.

What happened

11. Miss X owns a flat in a converted Victorian villa which sits within a conservation area. The building is not listed.
12. The freeholder of the building applied for planning permission to create an extra apartment by converting the existing loft and installing an infill extension to the valley in the existing roof.
13. The Council publicised the application and received objections from Mrs X, the conservation area association, and other members of the public. It also consulted with specialist advisors for:
• Ecology and biodiversity
• Arboriculture; and
• Conservation
14. It received the following comments:
• The ecology and conservation adviser required the developer to provide three bat surveys , the results of these should inform mitigation measures. They also advised a precautionary approach should be taken for other protected species. If nesting birds, eggs or evidence of a badger sett is found then work should stop, and advice sought from Natural England.
• The arboricultural advisor had no objections
• The conservation advisers had concerns. However, these were addressed in amended proposals. They advised a low level of harm remains to be balanced against the wider planning benefits as required by paragraph 202 of the National Planning Policy Framework. The adviser also recommended condition be attached to any planning permission.
15. The Planning Officer’s report includes a summary of the objections received. The Officer sets out which national and local planning policy apply to the proposal and why the proposed development overcomes these. They concluded the development is acceptable and recommended approval.
16. The Council’s Planning Committee considered the application. Miss X and a representative from the conservation area spoke at the Committee meeting objecting to the application. Each speaker was allotted three minutes to make their points. The Council’s minutes show the Committee Members listened to the speaker and sought clarification on several points. After considering the application, the Committee voted to delegate the decision to grant planning permission to Council Officer’s after a bat survey has been received and considered.
17. Miss X says three minutes is not long enough to make her views known. However, this is a standard time for speaking to council committees. It is the procedure adopted by the Council and is detailed on its website. There is no evidence of fault on this point.
18. The Planning Officer’s report and Committee minutes show the comments from consultees and objectors were considered. I have not seen evidence that Officers lied or misled the Planning Committee.
19. Miss X believes the Council should have consulted Historic England. However, the guidance from Historic England states it should be notified if the Council think the proposal will affect :

“The character or appearance of a conservation area where:

1. The development involves the erection of a new building or the extension of an existing building; and
2. The area of land in respect of which the application is made is more than 1,000 square metres.”

20. In this case the Planning Officer’s report confirms the Council considers the “character of the building and of the wider conservation area would be preserved”. Therefore, there is no requirement to notify Historic England.
21. Having considered:
• the application
• the report
• objections from Ms X and another member of the public
• comments from two councillors and a supporting statement from the developer’s agent

the Council discussed the proposal. Members then voted to delegate the decision to approve the application to Officers, subject to receiving a bat survey

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Final decision

22. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the planning application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman