Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because part of the complaint is late. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s enforcement of planning conditions to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to include sufficient conditions before granting planning permission at a site near his home. He also complained the Council failed to take appropriate enforcement action for various matters at the site. He stated that he has suffered from noise coming from the site. He would like the Council to revoke the planning permission and re-issue with proper conditions for enforcement.

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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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, 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 complained the Council did not include sufficient conditions when it approved a planning application for a site near his home in 2018.
8. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because it is late. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events complained about. The events relating to this part of the complaint happened more than 12 months before Mr X complained to us. I have not seen any good reasons why he did not complaint to us sooner.
9. Mr X also complained the Council did not take appropriate enforcement action against the site for breach of planning conditions.
10. It is for the council to decide if there has been a breach of planning control and if it is expedient to take further action. Government guidance stresses the importance of affective enforcement action to maintain public confidence in the planning system but says councils should act proportionately.
11. Mr X said the Council did not properly enforce conditions around noise. The Council said it previously monitored noise from the site and found the noise levels had not breached planning conditions. The Council told Mr X how to report any further incidents of noise for its consideration. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
12. Mr X also said the Council did not enforce planning conditions around the use of the site. In its complaint response, the Council stated that it had taken enforcement action against the site, and that current enforcement investigations were ongoing. The Council provided Mr X with a response to each of the points raised within his complaints, and it explained that it was considering further planning permission in respect of some of the enforcement issues. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. In addition, there is no significant injustice to Mr X regarding the use of the site.
13. Mr X asked for the planning permission for the site to be revoked and re-issued with appropriate conditions. We cannot require the Council to revoke the planning permission therefore we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late. There is not enough evidence of fault in relation to the remaining issues complained about.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman