Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to accept a fresh planning application relating to a matter where she has previously appealed to the Planning Inspector. Notwithstanding her previous appeal to the Planning Inspector, only a court could decide if the Council’s interpretation of the law is correct regarding her fresh planning application and the previous appeal. It would therefore be reasonable for Miss X to go to court.

The complaint

1. Miss X said the Council wrongly refused to validate a planning application. She said it wrongly interpreted s.70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1970. She said this led it to treat the matter as having already been decided by the Planning Inspector when it was in fact a materially different application.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The context of the complaint is a matter where the Council took planning enforcement action against Miss X. She appealed to the Planning Inspector, but the Council’s decision stood.
7. I have not reached any view about whether the further planning application Miss X submitted to the Council was materially different to the matters previously taken to the Planning Inspector. That was a matter for the Council to decide.
8. Where there is no fresh decision by the Council on the further planning application as a result of its interpretation of an Act of Parliament, I acknowledge that may remove any further right of appeal to the Planning Inspector. However, the issue is whether the Council is right to interpret the Act in that way. We cannot decide matters of lawfulness. Only a court could decide whether the Council’s interpretation of s.70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1970 was correct or lawful in that context.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the matter of whether the Council has correctly interpreted a section of an Act of Parliament is a matter only a court could decide. It would therefore be reasonable for Miss X to go to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman