Stratford-on-Avon District Council (25 022 870)
Category : Planning > Planning applications
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions relating to planning matters. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to consider it now.
The complaint
- X complained about several matters concerning planning advice and decisions relating to applications they made. They said the Council; gave them poor planning advice; it misled the Planning Committee, and; it used flawed methodology to assess their applications.
- X said this has caused them delay in being able to develop their property and this was to their financial detriment.
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 the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- X was unhappy with several aspects of how the Council dealt with their planning applications including consent and lawful development certificates. They said more recent events affecting similar applications compounded their view about their earlier concerns.
- I have considered the information X provided about their complaint alongside the recent applications they refer to. The evidence shows X’s earlier concerns were known to them between mid-2022 and early 2024. X did not complain to us about these issues until early 2026.
- Consequently, I will not investigate these matters, because the expectation in law is that we do not investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons. I have not seen any good reasons why X could not have complained to us about their concerns sooner.
Final decision
- We will not investigate X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman