Wyre Borough Council (23 018 847)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Mar 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning application. This is because the Council's decision to grant planning permission did not cause Mr X significant injustice.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of a planning application. He says the Council failed to consider the impact of the proposal on a neighbour who adjoins the application site and did not take account of their human rights.
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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
- I appreciate Mr X is concerned about whether the Council considered the application properly but he does not claim any significant personal injustice from the proposal, which the Council approved. We will not therefore investigate his complaint further.
- Mr X says he would like to explore if he has grounds for a judicial review but this is a legal issue and Mr X may therefore wish to discuss the matter with someone qualified to give legal advice.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s actions, whether fault or not, did not cause Mr X significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman