Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council introducing a Traffic Regulation Order for work related to a housing development planning condition. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice to Mrs X which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to introduce a Traffic Regulation Order to enable the construction of pedestrian traffic islands required by a planning condition for a development. She is concerned that the developer is marketing homes which may be occupied before the works are complete and the condition is met.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says the Council failed to respond to her enquiries about the completion of a Traffic Regulation order for works required by the Planning Inspectorate’s approval of a development near her home. She says the developer is marketing homes to be completed in a few months but the planning conditions require that the traffic islands are completed before the dwellings are occupied. She wanted to know why the Council had failed to even begin consultation.
6. The Council says it began the statutory consultation for the Order in May 2022 and the public consultation will begin after that. Mrs X is concerned because she received earlier information from the Council that the orders normally take 12-18 months to process and that the houses would be sold and occupied before then, in breach of the planning condition.
7. The Council assured Mrs X that the process would only take 4-6 months and that it could not take any action against the developer when the condition has so far not been breached.
8. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
9. In this case the developer has not completed any properties yet and the Council still has time to complete the order within the statutory 2 years required. If the developer breaches the planning conditions Mrs X could report this to the Council for an enforcement investigation. If the Council fails to follow the order procedure or if it discharges the condition without meeting the inspector’s requirements, she could submit a new complaint in future.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council introducing a Traffic Regulation Order for work related to a housing development planning condition. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice to Mrs X which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman