The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Mrs X’s neighbour’s planning application. This is because there is no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with the application.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council approved planning permission for a new development next to her home. Mrs X says the Council did not notify her about the application and she has not been able to see any illustrations of how the development will impact on her.
Mrs X says the Council’s actions has caused her distress.
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)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and information about the planning application on the Council’s website.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
There is no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with the planning application. The Council notified Mrs X of the planning application by writing to her at the property which is next to the development site. There is no requirement for the Council to write to people at a different address. The Council notifies occupiers of properties rather than property owners.
The Council has also considered the impact of the development on Mrs X’s property as well as local and national planning policies. This is set out in the Council’s officer report. The Council is not required to produce an illustration showing the impact of a development on neighbouring properties and it cannot require planning applicants to do so. Planning officers are able to use their experience to understand the impact of proposed developments on the surrounding area taking account of scale plans, maps and their knowledge of the local area. Mrs X may disagree with the Council’s reasons for granting planning permission but in the absence of fault in how it reached its decision we cannot question its decision.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with her neighbour’s planning application.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman