The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take enforce a planning condition which it imposed to protect the complainants amenity. This is because the events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why the matter could not have been raised sooner.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to enforce a planning condition imposed on a business close to his home, which was intended to protect his amenity from noise.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In 2016, we considered a complaint from Mr X about the same matter. We found that there had been fault in the way the Council considered the original planning application, but a new planning application was expected to be submitted which may alleviate the issue of noise. We told Mr X that he could come back to the Ombudsman if dissatisfied once the planning process was completed.
A new planning application was received by the Council under which the issue of noise was considered. The Council concluded that the proposals would help alleviate the problem and planning permission was granted in December 2019.
I will not investigate this complaint. This is because the planning process was completed some two years ago and the complaint is therefore made late. If Mr X was dissatisfied with the Council’s consideration of the planning application, I see no reason why he could not have complained to us in December 2019.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and I see no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman