East Staffordshire Borough Council (25 014 945)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 18 Dec 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the complaint is late.
The complaint
- Ms X has complained about how the Council dealt with a planning application for a development near her home.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X has raised many concerns about how the Council dealt with a planning application for a development near her home. However, I consider Ms X's complaint late. A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. It has been more than a year since the Council granted outline planning permission and approved the reserved matters application for the development. Ms X knew about the applications at the time and objected to the proposed development. I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate as I consider Ms X could have complained to the Ombudsman sooner.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman