North East Derbyshire District Council (23 006 139)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Aug 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning applications. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, has complained about how the Council dealt with her planning applications.
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 Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector if she was unhappy with the Council’s decision to refuse her planning applications.
- Mrs X has raised many concerns about how her applications were dealt with by the Council and says she incurred significant costs as a result. However, these matters are related to the planning decisions which could have been appealed and I consider it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to have used her right to appeal. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal would not have addressed all the issues complained about.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman