The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his neighbour’s planning application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the Council’s decision. We also cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of his neighbour’s planning application. He believes the decision to grant planning permission is unlawful and should be overturned.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I understand Mr X is unhappy with the decision to grant planning permission for his neighbour’s development but the law does not allow us to question its merits or overturn it.
We can investigate complaints about the way a council handled a planning application but I see no basis for us to investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the decision. Mr X questions statements made by the planning officer but his comments concern specific points which do not affect the Council’s rationale or allow us to say it should have refused the application.
While Mr X raises several points about the legality of the decision this is not for us to determine; it is a matter for the courts. We also cannot find fault with the Council’s decision based on any private property rights Mr X may claim; this is between Mr X and the person he alleges to have interfered with his rights.
Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the Council’s decision and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman