Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to create traffic calming including the retention of an existing bus stop and location of a disabled parking bay. The complaint about the introduction of the measures was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions since April 2025 which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to create a build-out for an existing bus stop which effectively prevented his sister from parking outside her home. He believes the Council did not carry out sufficient consideration over retaining the bus stop and that her objections were dismissed. He also says a proposed disabled parking bay was delayed and not appropriately sited.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the Council carried out local consultation for a traffic calming scheme which involved a build-out into the highway for an existing bus-stop. He understood that this proposal would remove on-street parking outside his sister’s home. He says she is disabled and a blue badge holder and it would affect her mobility.
7. Mr X objected to the proposals from 2023 and the Council finally carried out the work in March 2025. Under its highways act powers, the Council was not required to carry out formal consultation and objections carried no appeal rights. This includes the retention of the bus stop and the provision of a disabled parking bay which Mr X’s sister decided she would require if the work went ahead.
8. We will not investigate the Council actions up to when the works were carried out. It was reasonable for Mr X to complain to us when he became aware of the proposed works and the injustice which he says they would cause. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
9. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
10. Mr X says the Council’s reasons for not relocating the bus stop were contradictory and not based on local need. He was dissatisfied with the Council’s responses to his objections following installation of the traffic measures.
11. Although his objections to the work carried out were within the past 12 months, we will not investigate this matter because the Council did not require formal consultation with the public to retain a bus stop in its current location. Mr X’s objections are based on the injustice of the loss of on-street parking for his sister, not the concerns of the residents as a whole.
12. There is no right to park on the highway in England. Where there are no restrictions or physical constraints someone may park on the highway in accordance with the highway code. The Council as highway authority has powers to introduce new infrastructure or change existing features within its statutory powers or by way of traffic orders where required. There is no evidence of fault in the Council reasoning for introducing new traffic management features.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to create traffic calming including the retention of an existing bus stop and location of a disabled parking bay. The complaint about the introduction of the measures was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions since April 2025 which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman