Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council approving a planning application for a residential development which is further away from a bus stop than is normally recommended. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council assessed the application, and the complainant has not been caused a significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council approved a planning application for a residential development which is further away from a bus stop than is normally recommended.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

3. With regard to the second and third bullet point above, our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the Council. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the Council.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered:
• information provided by Mr X.
• information about the planning application and the Planning Committee meeting, as available on the Council’s website.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I appreciate Mr X is unhappy the Council decided to grant planning permission for a residential development which is not within the recommended distance of a bus stop.
6. But the Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council made.
7. I consider there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council considered this issue when determining the application, so we will not start an investigation. In reaching this view, I am mindful that:
• Concerns about the distance to the nearest bus stop were referred to in the Parish Council’s comments within the Planning Committee report, as well as in the Update List presented to the Planning Committee.
• Relevant planning policies and other material considerations may pull in different directions; it is for the decision maker to decide the weight to be given to these factors. So, although the development is further away from a bus stop than normally recommended, the Council was entitled to decide other factors justified the approval of the development. This included the professional judgement of the highway authority consultee, as well as the status of the site within the Council’s Site Allocation Document (which had been examined by a Planning Inspector and was found to be sound).
8. And whilst I appreciate Mr X might be concerned about the welfare of future residents of the development, I do not see that he is caused a significant personal injustice by the distance to the nearest bus stop. Similarly, the planning permission for the development has not yet been issued, as it is pending the completion of a legal agreement. So, any injustice to Mr X would also be speculative and insufficient to warrant investigation. The legal agreement may not be completed and therefore the Council will not be able to issue the planning permission.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council determined the application, or that he has been caused a significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman