Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to consult residents on a planning application. We will not investigate this complaint as we have seen insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the planning application.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains the Council failed to consult residents on planning applications which will have an impact of resident’s health and wellbeing.

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X complains the Council has not consulted residents on a planning application which will affect them.
6. Planning authorities must publicise all planning applications. Depending on the nature of the development, publication may be by newspaper advertisement and / or site notice and / or neighbour notification (The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995.) The notice will invite ‘representations’ for or against the application and explain how those representations may be made. The opportunity to make representations is not the same as being consulted. The authority must consider all material representations it receives but officers will not enter a dialogue with members of the public who have objected to a planning application.
7. From the information I have seen there is no evidence the Council failed to follow the statutory requirements to publicise the planning application. The Council noted it received 107 objections to the application.
8. The planning officer wrote a report on the proposal. This includes a summary of the objections received and explains why the planning officer considers the proposal overcomes these.
9. The application was referred to the Council’s planning committee. The meeting minutes show that nine people spoke at the meeting including Mr X, another member of the public, two parish councillors, two ward councillors and the applicant and their agents.
10. After hearing from the speakers, the committee debated the application and voted to approve the proposal subject to conditions.
11. We can look at the Council’s decision-making process but we cannot say if the decision is right or wrong. The Council should take account of law, policy, relevant evidence, and information. If it has followed those steps we cannot find fault.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council publicised and considered the planning application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman