The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not taking planning enforcement action about a planning breach Mr B reported. This is because the alleged fault has not caused Mr B a significant injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council has not taken planning enforcement action about a planning breach he reported. Mr B says a resident of a property next to a Council-owned park has built a structure which encroaches on the park. Mr B is concerned that this will set a precedent and other residents may also build on land which forms part of the park.
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 an investigation if we decide: 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 Mr B and have considered information available online, including planning records and Google Streetview.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council says both its property services and planning enforcement teams have investigated the matter and are satisfied the structure does not encroach on Council land. The Council says there has not been a breach of planning control.
Mr B says the Council has got this wrong. Mr B says the Council’s decision is not supported by either the Council’s mapping system or Google Maps.
I find an investigation of Mr B’s complaint is not justified. This is because even if the Council’s decision was affected by fault, Mr B has not suffered a significant personal injustice which would justify an investigation. The alleged deviation from the boundary line of the property does not affect Mr B in a significant or serious way. This means an investigation is not justified.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because he has not suffered a significant injustice because of the alleged fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman