Cumberland Council (25 015 027)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Jan 2026
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 complainant has not suffered significant injustice.
The complaint
- Ms X has complained about how the Council has dealt with a planning application for a development in the area where she lives. Ms X says the Council is taking too long to determine the application and is showing favouritism towards the applicant.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X is unhappy with how long it is taking the Council to determine the application and says she has to chase it for updates. Ms X says the Council keeps extending the deadline to decide the proposal and is allowing the applicant to amend the plans. However, I do not consider Ms X has suffered any significant personal injustice because of any delays. Ms X has had the opportunity to comment on the proposal and there is no requirement for the Council to update residents on progress with the application outside of the consultation process.
- Ms X says the application goes against the Council’s planning policy. However, as the application has not yet been decided, it is not possible to say if Ms X has suffered any significant injustice because of any fault with how the application has been dealt with or assessed. The Council may still decide that the development is unacceptable and refuse planning permission.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has not suffered significant injustice as a result of the alleged fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman