Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to validate Mr X’s planning application without additional information. Mr X can serve notice on the Council. If it refuses to validate the application, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council refuses to validate his planning application, insisting he provides more information.
2. He wants the Council to accept it has made a mistake and process his application without the extra information it has requested.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference, or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• A decision to refuse planning permission
• Conditions placed on planning permission
• A planning enforcement notice.

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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 says he put in a planning application two days before new requirements for planning applications came into force. The Council says Mr X put in the application on a Sunday and the following day was a bank holiday. According to the terms of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure)(England) Order 2015, a working day is not a Saturday, Sunday, or bank holiday. Therefore, the Council says it received the application on the following Tuesday, the day the new requirements came into effect. It says extra information is needed to validate Mr X’s planning application.
8. The law provides a right of appeal for disputes about the validation of planning applications. If Mr X was concerned the Council had failed to validate his applications without good reason, it would have been reasonable for him to serve notice on the Council under Article 12 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. If the Council had then issued a ‘non-validation notice’ or failed to reply, we would have expected Mr X to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to service notice on the Council and if necessary appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman