Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a refused planning application. This is because Mr X had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council acted unfairly during his planning application. He says he paid for a Council-appointed surveyor to review the proposals. Mr X says the Council ignored the surveyor’s findings and later refused the application for reasons that contradict the specialist advice and changes made at its officer’s request. Mr X complains the Council refused to escalate his complaint to the next stage. Mr X says the Council’s actions have cost him a significant amount of time, money and caused him to feel intimidated and unfairly treated. Mr X wants the Council to issue an apology and repay all the costs he has incurred; he also wants it to review its internal practices and procedures.

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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 can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b), as amended)
4. The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:

• Delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
• A decision to refuse planning permission
• Conditions placed on planning permission
• A planning enforcement notice.

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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. I consider it would have been reasonable for Mr X to use his right to appeal to the Planning Inspector if he did not agree with the Council’s decision to refuse his application. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal would not have addressed all the issues complained about.
8. Mr X has complained about how his application was dealt with by the Council and the actions of the case officer. But these matters are related to the planning decision which could have been appealed.
9. Mr X complained about the way the Council handled his complaint by not escalating it to the next stage. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman