Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s application for a dropped kerb. This is because the complaint is late and I have seen no good reasons to exercise my discretion to investigate it. There is also not enough evidence of fault by the Council and it is unlikely we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of her neighbour’s application for a dropped kerb. She says the Council failed to consider the history of the properties and restrictive covenants which apply to them, which she says has affected her relationship with her neighbour and led to significant legal fees.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The information provided by Mrs X shows she was aware of the Council’s decision to grant her neighbour permission for a dropped kerb and complained about it initially in July 2023. However Mrs X did not complain to us about it until March 2025. Her complaint is therefore late. I have seen no good reasons for Mrs X’s delay in bringing the complaint to us and I have therefore decided not to exercise my discretion to investigate the complaint.
7. It is in any event unlikely we would find fault by the Council or that we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs X. This is because Mrs X’s concerns relate primarily to a dispute over whether the land on which her neighbour intends to park their vehicle is partly hers and this is not a matter for the Council to decide.
8. The Council’s decision to grant Mrs X’s neighbour’s application allows the neighbour to install a dropped kerb to access an off-road parking area but does not permit the neighbour to park a car on land which she does not own, or which is subject to any restrictive covenants which may preclude using it for this purpose. Land ownership and the enforcement of restrictive covenants is a private civil matter between the parties and not something which the Council can or should become involved in. It is also not for the Council to reimburse or compensate Mrs X for the cost of any legal fees she has incurred in dealing with the dispute with her neighbour.
9. Mrs X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and I have seen no good reasons to exercise my discretion to investigate it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman