North Yorkshire Council (24 001 613)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Jun 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about planning delays. We are unlikely to find significant fault or that she has been caused significant injustice which needs a remedy.
The complaint
- Mrs X says the Council delayed too long in deciding a planning application and used the wrong part of its policy.
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 Mrs X and the Council’s replies to her complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In 2021, planning permission was applied for a large domestic development on land next to Mrs X’s home. The application was withdrawn in 2024.
- Mrs X says the Council took too long to decide the application. She says this caused her uncertainty and distress. She says she got legal advice about the application. She says the Council used this legal advice and changed the way it considered the application. She says the Council should pay back her legal costs.
Analysis
- Large developments can take years to receive full planning permission. Given the application has now been withdrawn, we are unlikely to find the delay caused Mrs X any significant injustice which justifies an investigation.
- Mrs X can choose to gain and put in any legal advice when exercising her legal right to object to the planning application. The applicant or Council agreeing with an objector is part of the planning process. We are unlikely to recommend the Council should pay back her legal costs.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find significant fault or that Mrs X has been caused significant injustice because of fault which needs a remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman