The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a hedge obstructing a footpath. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigation and any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council had failed to take appropriate action after he raised concerns about a hedge obstructing a footpath. He said the obstruction is reducing the width of the footpath to under 1 metre meaning he has to repeatedly walk in the road. He wants the Council to ensure householders cut back hedges on their property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, and any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X contacted the Council’s contractor (the Contractor) in October 2020 about a hedge that was obstructing a footpath. The Council said it sent enforcement letters to residents and a Council Officer completed a site visit the following month. At that visit they were satisfied the footpath was passable.
Mr X contacted the Council further in September 2021, stating that it had not dealt with the hedge. The Council’s final complaint response confirmed it had acted the previous year. It said it completed six monthly inspections of the road and it had visited in June 2020, December 2020 and June 2021. It said the hedges did not require urgent action on those visits. It said it had completed a further visit in December 2021 and although there was some vegetation encroachment, this was not a safety issue as the footpath was passable. It said its Contractor applied the Council’s policy when assessing footpaths and that it considered a width of 1.2 metres wide appropriate for a footpath. Mr X complained the width was 1 metre or under.
We will not investigate this complaint further. The Council’s response confirms it acted after Mr X made his initial complaint and has completed regular checks of the footpath. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify us investigating this complaint further. In addition, any injustice caused to Mr X is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman