Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about overgrown trees littering the road near Mrs X’s home. This is because the complaint it late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains on behalf of his mother, Mrs X, that the Council has failed to properly maintain trees near his mother’s home. Mr Y says this has led to the trees becoming overgrown, with branches falling, causing a risk to cars and pedestrians using the highway.
2. He also says the leaves from the trees have not been cleared, making a footpath slippery and says the foliage means his mother has a poor television signal reception.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr Y and the Council. Mr Y had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mrs X has been experiencing problems with leaf litter and debris from trees on the road outside her home for over 20 years. Mr Y says in the last five years the problem has become worse, leading him to complain to the Council about the issue. He says his mother has fallen on the pavement outside their home on two occasions, in 2018 and early 2019, due to the leaves making the pavement slippery.
7. He also says the leaves have blocked the guttering on their property, causing damage to the property. Mr Y is also concerned about the growth of the trees, which he says makes it hard to see oncoming traffic when exiting the junction onto the main road. Mr Y is concerned this is a safety hazard and the falling branches from the trees may either cause a road accident or injure a person.
8. Mr Y says the Council has inspected the junction after he complained to it in March 2019. Following its inspection, the Council concluded the junction is safe, even with the continued growth of the trees, but Mr Y says the angle of photographs the Council took during the site visit is not the same as the line of sight for a driver.
9. Mr Y says while he has known about the problem for several years, he did not want to complain, but felt he had to complain after his mother fell on the pavement in 2018 and early 2019. Mr Y then contacted us in October 2020.

Analysis

10. While Mr Y did not want to complain about the problem until after his mother fell in March 2019, both he and his mother have been aware of their reason to complain for over 12 months, so the complaint is late.
11. We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph three where we decide there are good reasons. Mr Y has not provided any good reasons why he did not bring the complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect him or his mother to have complained sooner.
12. Further, as the Council has properly considered the complaint, made a site visit to consider any risk caused by the trees, leaves or branches, and using its professional judgement concluded that the junction remains safe, it is unlikely we would find the Council at fault.
13. Consequently, there are no good reasons for us to consider this late complaint now.

Back to top

Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate the complaint now.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman