Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s planning process and decision to grant permission for a residential development near his property. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now. Even if we were to investigate, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s planning process to warrant us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X lives near a site which received residential planning permission over two years ago. He complains the Council:
1. incorrectly decided the proposed development for the site would not cause loss of privacy and light to existing properties;
2. delayed in responding to his complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mr X, relevant online planning documents, maps and images, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The planning decision about which Mr X complains was now made over two years ago in summer 2022. He complained to the Council about their decision soon after and an officer replied at the first complaint stage. Mr X did not pursue his complaint to the second and final stage at that point. He contacted the Council again on the same planning issues in spring 2024, about a year later. Officers replied, not upholding his complaint, in August 2024. Dissatisfied with the outcome, Mr X complained to us later that same month.
6. We expect people to complain to us about something they believe a council has done wrong within 12 months of them becoming aware of the matters complained of. Any complaint made 12 months after someone knows about the complaint issue is late. Mr X has known about the matters complained of for over two years, therefore the complaint is late.
7. We may decide to investigate a late complaint if we consider there are good reasons to do so. There are no good reasons to investigate here. It was Mr X’s decision to not proceed to stage two of the Council’s internal complaint process which resulted in his complaint to us being late. Mr X’s 2022 complaint to the Council shows he was aware of the planning decision soon after it was made and that he had the opportunity and ability to pursue a complaint about it. By the time Mr X sought a second stage reply from the Council’s complaint process in March 2024, he had already known about the planning decision complained of for about 18 months. Any delays in the Council’s stage two response did not cause the complaint to us to be late. There is insufficient evidence of any delay, action or inaction by Council officers here causing Mr X’s complaint to us to be late which would give us good reason to investigate this late complaint.
8. We note Mr X believes he could not complain to us and establish his case until the new build was complete. But his complaint to the Council, and to us, is about the Council’s planning process. He believed, soon after that process ended, that there were faults in it affecting the planning decision which would have impacts on his property, so he complained to the Council. It was not therefore necessary for Mr X to wait for the development to be built to proceed with his complaint about the planning process. There are no good reasons to warrant us exercising discretion to investigate the late complaint.
9. Even if we were to exercise our discretion, we would not investigate. We may only criticise a council’s decision where there is evidence of fault in its decision‑making process and but for that fault officers would have made a different decision. So we consider the processes councils have followed to make decisions and cannot replace a council’s decision with our own or someone else’s opinion if the decision has been reached after following proper process. Mr X objected to the planning application during the normal consultation procedure. The Council’s planning officer’s report took account of those and others’ comments on the proposed development. The officer noted the design, scale and location of the proposed property, including the separation distance of over 25 metres between it and Mr X’s property. They determined none of the impacts of the new property, including on the privacy or other amenity of existing properties and the local area, gave them planning grounds to refuse the permission. The Council followed the proper planning process to make its decision on the application. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s planning decision-making process to warrant an investigation.
10. Even if we were to pursue this late complaint, there would not be enough evidence of fault in the Council officers’ decision-making process to allow us to go behind its planning decision and investigate. We realise Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision, but it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
11. The development has been the subject of another planning application to amend part of the original plans for the front of the property, which the Council granted. If Mr X considers there have been other changes to the property as-built, not in line with the permitted plans, this would be a planning enforcement issue. He may wish to report such matters to the Council’s enforcement team for consideration. It would be for officers to investigate and assess any reports and decide what action, if any, to take. If he is dissatisfied with the enforcement outcome, this would be a new complaint he may first make to the Council, and exhausting its internal complaint process before considering bringing it to this office.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• the complaint is late and there is no good reason for us to investigate it now; and
• even if we were to investigate, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s planning process to warrant us investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman