Summary: The Ombudsman found some fault by the Council on Miss L’s complaint about its decision to relocate a bus stop outside of her house. While it properly carried out consultation, it failed to tell residents affected of its decision to implement the proposal. As Miss L did not own the house at the time of the consultation, the first she knew about it was when contractors started work outside. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss L complains the Council failed to properly consider the impact of its decision to relocate a bus stop to outside of her house and nor did it tell residents of its decision; as a result, she will have access problems to a shared drive, her privacy will be affected, and she will experience noise and pollution from both passengers and buses using this stop.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered all the information Miss L sent, the notes I made of our telephone conversation, and the Council’s response to my enquiries, a copy of which I sent her. I sent a copy of my draft decision to the Council and Miss L. I considered their responses.

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What I found

5. When Miss L bought the house in December 2017, it had no bus stop outside. The nearest one was about 5 houses along the road.
6. In July 2018, a report for the Strategic Director for Environment (‘Bus stop Clearways-review of consultation responses’) sought a decision to implement proposals previously consulted on for bus stop clearways at more than a dozen locations. In September, the Council made the decision.
7. A month later, contractors started working on the road outside Miss L’s home. She asked them what they were doing, and they explained they were relocating a bus stop to the front of her property. This caused her concern about access as she shares a drive with a neighbouring property.
8. The installed bus stop clearway has a large box area painted on the road which covers the area to the front of her drive. She argued the site for this bus stop is unsuitable. Passengers on the bus can look down on to her property because of the hill. She worries about security, parking, access to and from her property, as well as pollution.
9. Had she known about the proposal to move the bus stop, Miss L would not have bought the house. She is unhappy it failed to show on the conveyancing searches her solicitor carried out at the time she bought it. She claimed neither the seller nor the neighbours knew about this proposal.
10. The Council explained it decided to relocate the bus stop because of inadequate kerb length at the original location. It needed to make it more accessible when the bus deployed its ramp. The height of the kerb needed to allow this to happen. The yellow box deters cars parking there so the bus can park as close as possible to the kerb.
11. In November 2016, residents were sent a letter and plan setting out the proposed changes. It received and considered representations about it before deciding to do the works. The relocation did not involve waiting or loading restrictions and nor did it introduce resident parking controls. The Council provided no evidence of telling residents of the decision.

Analysis

12. Transport for London (TFL), as part of the London Bus Stop Accessibility programme, aims to improve accessibility at bus stops and introduce clearways to allow buses to pull in adjacent to the kerb and bus stops. Bus stop clearways are waiting restrictions that restrict waiting and loading to all vehicles expect buses. This is to ensure kerbside space remains clear.
13. The Council provided a copy of the template letter used to notify residents of this proposal. It sought views on the relocation and stated it wanted representations by November 2016 and aimed to introduce the change by April 2017. The plan it sent with the letter showed the new bus stop directly outside a property 2 houses further along the road from hers. The clearway itself extends to the front of her property.
14. I saw a copy of the delegated powers report. This stated bus stop clearways restrict waiting/loading of all vehicles, except buses. Statutory consultation is not needed to implement them, and nor does it need a Traffic Management Order.

Procedure

15. I am satisfied the Council did not need a Traffic Regulation Order to introduce a bus stop clearway at this location.
16. On balance, I am also satisfied the Council consulted with residents in November 2016. This is because I have seen a template letter sent about it. I am also satisfied concerns residents raised were considered. I say this because appendix 1 of the report sets out the concerns and the officer’s comments. The Council received 8 responses about this proposed bus stop making similar points about its relocation. Two residents objected to it being outside their houses. The report confirmed residents were told and made representations about it.
17. I am not satisfied residents of affected properties were told about the outcome of the decision. This is because the Council failed to provide any evidence showing this. I note the report the Council sent stated, ‘Residents of the affected properties and Ward Councillors will be advised of the outcome of the decision’. (paragraph 4.1) In addition, it also states, ‘residents and Ward Councillors will be made aware of the decision to proceed to implementation at the individual sites’. (paragraph 5.8.1)
18. The failure to show it did what it said it was going to do is fault. I consider the fault caused Miss L avoidable injustice. She did not live in the property at the time of the consultation so had no knowledge of this proposal until she asked the contractors, who turned up on site to carry out the works, what they were doing. Had the Council told her of the decision to implement the proposal shortly after making it, Miss L would not have experienced the shock of seeing work start work without knowing why. She would have had some prior knowledge at least 3 weeks before the contractors visited.

Local searches

19. A local land search is carried out by solicitors or licensed conveyancers on behalf of a person buying or selling land or a property. They can tell you whether a property is listed, in a conservation or smoke control zone, or has tree preservation orders on trees on the land. In addition, a buyer can ask a series of standard questions covering planning, highway, building control, and environmental health. The solicitor applies to the local authority’s Local Land Charges Team who charges a set fee for the service.
20. Local land charges are usually financial charges or restrictions on the use of the land which may have been imposed by a public authority. They need registering and alert purchasers to their presence.
21. One enquiry form (CON 29) used in the search process asks for information not found on the legal registers. This includes notices under planning and highways Acts. I have not seen the search form Ms D’s solicitors sent or the search result. One of the questions that can be asked is about traffic schemes (question 3.6). This asks whether the Council:

‘approved, but not yet implemented any of the following for the roads, footways and footpaths which are named in Box B & C and are within 200 metres of the boundaries of the property?

b) waiting or loading restrictions’.

22. The Council was under no obligation to issue a statutory notice for the bus clearway stop. This means the proposal would not be revealed when a response was sent by the Council. I found no fault on this complaint.

Agreed action

23. I considered our internal guidance on remedies.
24. The Council will, within 4 weeks of the final decision on this complaint, carry out the following:
1. Send Miss L a written apology for failing to notify her of the decision to implement the proposal;
2. Remind relevant officers of the need to ensure notification is sent on future cases; and
3. Pay £100 to Miss L for the avoidable distress caused.

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Final decision

25. The Ombudsman found fault causing injustice on Miss L’s complaint against the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman