Summary: Mrs X complains the Council granted planning permission and a park homes licence without ensuring the access road will be maintained. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council granted planning permission and a park homes licence without ensuring the access maintenance for the access road. She wants the road brought up to standards so the highways authority will adopt it. Or to change the park homes site licence to include conditions about maintaining the road.

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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. 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
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mrs X and the Council. She commented on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs X lives in a park home. The access road to the site is a bridleway. She says it is not suitable for the number of cars now using it and it is decaying. She says this means residents cannot use their mobility scooters, is damaging cars and may cause problems for emergency vehicles.
7. The Council has confirmed the access road is privately owned. And is a public right of way and bridleway.
8. I understand Mrs X feels the Council should not have granted planning permission for a residential site without access via an adopted road. However, planning permission for the site was granted many years ago. The law says a person must complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter being complained about. The site has been in existence for many years, and planning permission was granted decades ago. I do not intend to exercise discretion and investigate this part of Mrs X’s complaint. This is because it is unlikely that we can achieve a worthwhile investigation after such a long passage of time.
9. Mrs X also wants the Council to amend the park homes license to include conditions to force the site owner to maintain the road. However, the Council confirms the road it privately owned by a different landowner. Therefore, it cannot include it in the licensing conditions.
10. A private road is a road which has not been adopted and is privately maintained. This means the highway authority is under no duty to carry out repairs or cleaning to the road; even though it could be a public right of way to which highway and traffic law applies.
11. A highways authority may adopt privately owned roads, becoming responsible for maintaining it. But it must meet certain standards. The Council says the road is privately owned by a third party. Therefore, it is not responsible for bringing up to a standard so it can be adopted.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is too late to investigate a planning permission granted many years ago. And we are unlikely to find fault. Nor can we achieve the outcome Mrs X is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman