The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a car wash next to her home. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision to justify an investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs B, complains that the Council has granted planning permission for a car wash to continue operating next to her home. Mrs B says the Council did not give proper consideration to the impact of this business on her home, particularly spray drift from the car wash. Mrs B also says the Council has wrongly allowed the business to operate until 8pm.
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 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 Mrs B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Because the car wash is already in operation, the case officer was able to visit the site during opening hours to help assess the application. The Council consulted its environmental health department, which did not have any concerns about the application.
The Council set out its consideration of the planning application in a case report. It is clear from the case report that the Council considered Mrs B’s concerns about the business, particularly spray drift to her property.
The Council also considered Mrs B’s concerns about the car wash operating until 8pm. The Council explained why it considered the proposal was acceptable.
I have not seen any information to suggest this assessment was affected by fault. This means we cannot question the Council’s judgement that the proposal was acceptable in planning terms.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman