Summary
Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a neighbour’s building. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a neighbour’s building.
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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or 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.
The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
The Council granted planning permission for a storage building close to the boundary of Mr X’s house. Mr X objected to the planning application. The Planning Officer’s report refers to his objections and noted that Mr X had a building which aligned the boundary fence. The Planning Officer concluded that, given this, the one storey building would have a minimal impact and would not warrant refusal.
Mr X argues that his local Councillor was not told of the planning application. The Council acknowledges that this should have happened. However, they say they considered the objections from the Parish Council but decided that the planning application could be dealt with under the delegated authority of the Planning Officer.
I am, nevertheless, satisfied that Mr X’s objections, and those of the Parish Council were properly considered on planning grounds and, in the absence of administrative fault, the Ombudsman cannot question that professional judgement.
Final decision
I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault causing injustice to Mr X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman