The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the council’s consideration and decisions to approve planning applications for poultry houses near the complainant’s home. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr J complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for two poultry units in an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) near his home. He says the Council failed to conduct proper appraisals of the four phased planning applications and without exercising the proper protections provided for the AONB by nation and local planning policy.
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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr J and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
When a local authority receives a planning application it must look at the development plan and material planning considerations to decide if the proposal is acceptable. Material considerations relate to the use and development of the land in the public interest and includes matters such as the impact on neighbouring properties and the relevant planning policies. It is for the decision maker to decide the weight to be given to any material considerations in determining a planning application.
A council planning officer will normally visit the application site and write a report assessing the proposed development. The report will refer to relevant planning policies and the planning history of the site; summarise peoples’ comments; and consider the main planning issues for deciding the application. The assessment often involves the planning officer in balancing and weighing the planning issues and judging the merits of the proposed development. The report usually ends with a recommendation to grant or refuse planning permission.
A senior planning officer will consider most reports, but some go to the council’s planning committee for councillors to decide the application. The senior officer (or councillors at committee) may disagree with the case officer’s recommendation because it is for the decision maker to decide the weight given to any material consideration when deciding a planning application. Development usually gets planning permission if the council considers it is in line with planning policy and finds no planning reason(s) of enough weight to justify a refusal.
What happened The planning officer prepared reports for each planning application for the site. The reports refer to the objections received, the location in the AONB, the proposed buildings and the comments received from statutory consultees. For the three subsequent applications, the report also refers to the previous permissions granted for the site and the impact of the increased development.
Phase one and two of the development was for the first poultry house. The Council confirms it received the first two applications more than a year before the final two applications. Each application must be considered on individual merit.
I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council processed each application. The individual applications were publicised, and members of the public were able to comment, along with statutory consultees. Summaries of the comments received are noted in each report produced by the planning officer. Details of the relevant policies and explanations of why the office considers the proposals are acceptable are also detailed. The officer recommended approval for each application. This is a professional judgement and decision the officer is entitled to make.
A senior officer considered the reports and agreed with the recommendation. The applications were approved under the Council’s scheme of delegation.
It is for the planning officers to balance both national and local policy and decide to approve an application or not. We must consider whether there was fault in how the Council did this, not whether the decision was right or wrong. Without fault in the decision-making process, we cannot question the decision itself.
While Mr J may disagree with the decision, this does not make it wrong.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr J’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman