Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to the complainant request for information. We consider an investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council:
• delayed in telling him about his neighbour’s proposed extension,
• failed to tell him how to view the plans,
• failed to tell him how deep the proposed extension would be; and
• provide information about the foundations of the proposed extension

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(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 the Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council received a planning application for Mr X’s neighbour. It wrote to Mr X at the beginning of December. However, the letter did not arrive until a few days before Christmas which was three days before the planning consultation period closed.
6. Mr X emailed the Planning Officer advising he could not access the plans online. He asked where he could see a copy. He also asked whether his boundary fence will remain in place, whether the proposed extension will extend past his own extension and what controls would be in place to protect the foundations of his property.
7. The Council’s online system generated a generic acknowledgement stating Mr X’s comments had been received and would be considered as part of the planning process.
8. Mr X says he heard nothing further until February when he was told the planning application was approved.
9. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council says there were no reported issues with the planning portal on the day Mr X was unable to access the maps. It also advised some web browsers interfered with the ability to view documents.
10. The Council has also confirmed that it is not providing the building control function for the neighbour’s development and therefore holds no information about the foundations. And fencing and party walls are not planning considerations.
11. Finally, the Council advised Mr X that the ongoing postal strikes combined with increased mail over the Christmas period probably contributed to the delay in the delivery of the letter notifying Mr X of the application.
12. It is unfortunate that Mr X was unable to view the plans. However, I have seen no evidence that Mr X made subsequent attempts to access them. I have also considered the Planning Officer’s report on the neighbour’s planning application. This shows the Council considered the impact of the proposal on Mr X’s property before granting permission. Therefore, I do not consider that investigation of this complaint would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we do not consider an investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman