Isle of Wight Council (23 012 597)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Nov 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because it is not yet possible to determine if the complainant has suffered any significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.
The complaint
- Mr X has complained about how the Council dealt with a planning application. He says the case officer misled the planning committee and material planning matters were not considered. Mr X says the development will have a significant impact on the area and his business.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X has raised many concerns about how the Council dealt with the planning application. However, the planning decision has not yet been issued and therefore planning permission has not been granted. The Council has said a decision notice will not be issued until the applicant has addressed the issues raised after the planning committee meeting.
- As planning permission has not been granted, I cannot know if Mr X has suffered any significant injustice because of any alleged fault with how the Council dealt with the application. The ongoing issues may never be resolved. However, if planning permission is granted in the future, Mr X can return to the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is not yet possible to say if he has suffered any significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman