Dorset Council (22 001 354)
Category : Transport and highways > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 May 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to extend its highway register to include land owned by Mr X. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to amend its highway register to include land owned by him. Mr X says this will allow public access over his private land. Mr X wants the Council to reinstate the register to show the highway abutting, but not overlapping, his land.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X became aware of the Council’s decision on 23 March 2021, at the latest, and complained to us on 29 April 2022. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us as he has not complained to us within a year of knowing about the problem. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner and as such I do not consider there are good reasons to investigate the late complaint now.
- We cannot determine the extent of highway land or where the boundary should be. Ultimately this matter can only be legally decided in court.
- For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late to us and there are not good reasons to investigate now. Notwithstanding this, this is ultimately a matter for the courts and not something we can determine.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman