Chelmsford City Council (23 003 889)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Jul 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because he had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council dealt with his planning application. The Council approved the application subject to conditions. However, Mr X says the conditions are unfair and were not applied to his neighbour’s application for a similar development. Mr X says the planning conditions should be removed.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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), as amended)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector if he disagreed with the conditions placed on his planning permission. I consider it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have used his right to appeal. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman