Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s agreement to changes to a local road which Mr X believes are unsafe. The Council has taken steps to mitigate the risks identified by a road safety audit and it is unlikely that further investigation will achieve significantly more for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly allowed changes to the public highway which did not comply with those approved as part of a planning application and have led to it being unsafe.
2. Mr X says the changes should have been considered under section 73 of the Town and County Planning Act 1990 to include public consultation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. As part of the original planning application the local planning authority (LPA) consulted the Council in its capacity as local highway authority. The developer has now implemented the permission and the Council recognises the highway layout differs from that proposed in the initial scheme.
7. But the Council is not responsible for any planning decisions. This includes the decision to grant planning permission for the development and the decision not to require a Section 73 (Town & Country Planning Act 1990) application to vary the permission. These are decisions for the LPA.
8. We cannot therefore hold the Council as local highway authority responsible for the LPA’s decision not to require a formal application to vary the planning permission and we cannot overturn the legal agreement in place between the Council and the developer for the changes which have already been made.
9. The Council recognises the safety concerns Mr X and others have raised about the changes to the highway and has considered the results of a stage 3 road safety audit. It is working with the developer to address the issues raised and it is unlikely we could achieve anything worthwhile by investigating further.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation is unlikely to achieve the remedy Mr X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman