Summary: The complainant says the Council refuses to correct its plan showing the extent of the public highway. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. We cannot determine the extent of highway land. Such questions are for the courts to decide.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, says the Council refuses to correct the plan of his road which shows the extent of the highway.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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 the information provided by Mr X. He commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X says he says he bought his property in 2018. The Council’s plans show his property to be landlocked and a local landowner is demanding Mr X pays for permission to cross what the landowner believes is his property.
6. Mr X advises the Land Registry has corrected his title plan, but the Council will not. This will cause problems when he sells his home and will affect its value.
7. The Council says it has investigated Mr X’s claim and confirmed its map is correct and shows the extent of the highway boundary. It suggests Mr X seeks independent legal advice for his private access concerns.
8. I understand Mr X believes the Council should make the requested changes because Ordnance Survey has confirmed there are tolerances on the plan which compensate for distortions made when enlarging the plan from the Base Map. The Land Registry has made changes to reflect this and he believes as the Land Registry and the Council use the same base map, them the Council should change its map also. If it will not it should provide evidence to justify its position.
9. The Council says it has investigated Mr X’s complaint and confident its map is correct.

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Final decision

I will not investigate this complaint. The Ombudsman cannot decide questions of property or land ownership. We cannot resolve the question of whether the Council’s map showing the extent of public highway land is correct. Nor can we force the Council to provide evidence to show why it will not make the changes Mr X believes it should. Such matters are for the courts to resolve

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman