Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council considered planning applications and reports of breaches of planning control at a site in the village where the complainant lives. Part of the complaint is late, and we have seen no evidence why the complaint could not have been made sooner. We do not consider the complainant has suffered a personal injustice because of the Council’s decision to refuse a planning application. And there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to take enforcement action against breaches of planning control.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council is acting too favourably towards a planning application on a site in the village where he lives. He says it has accepted false information without checking breaches of green belt land regulations and development on land not owned by the applicant.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X is concerned about two planning applications, I shall call applications one and two.
8. Application one was to demolish outbuildings and build side and rear extensions. The Council publicised the application and Mr X was aware of it. The Council approved the application in 2022.
9. The law says a complaint must be made to the Ombudsman within a year of the person becoming aware of the matter. As Mr X was aware of the application I have seen no evidence to suggest he could not have complained to us much sooner. I will not exercise discretion and investigate a complaint about the way the Council dealt with application one as the complaint is late.
10. Application two was refused by the Council, therefore I do not consider Mr X has suffered any injustice as a result. The applicant has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. The decision whether to allow or dismiss the appeal will be made by the Planning Inspectorate which is outside our jurisdiction.
11. The Council has investigated Mr X’s reports of breaches of planning control. It has decided it is not expedient to take enforcement action against raised land levels. It also confirmed the neighbour has confirmed they have carried out drainage work to bring the system in line with current building control regulations and to divert the drains away from the adjacent land. The Council has advised it is satisfied with the explanation and will not take enforcement action. Having investigated Mr X’s reports, these are decisions the Council is entitled to take.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• it is too late to complain about the way the Council approved application one;
• we do not consider he has suffered any personal injustice because of the Council’s refusal of application two; and
• the Council has investigated his reports of breaches of planning control and decided it is not expedient to take enforcement action. We cannot criticise this decision as there is no evidence of fault in the decision-making process.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman