The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about parking and highway issues near the complainant’s home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because part of the complaint is late.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council has not taken action against his neighbour in relation to a parked car but made Mr X remove an object from the highway in 2014. Mr X says the Council is giving the neighbour more favourable treatment.
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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
In 2014 the Council asked Mr X to remove an object from the highway. Mr X complied. The Council has since explained that the object was slender and could have fallen and caused damage.
Mr X has recently reported to the Council that his neighbour has parked a car on the highway for many months, partially blocking Mr X’s drive.
The Council considered his report but decided it is not necessary, nor in the public interest, to take any action. It said there are no safety issues and Mr X should contact the police if there are issues of obstructive parking. The Council referred to there being a long-standing neighbour dispute.
I will not investigate why the Council asked Mr X to remove the object in 2014 because it happened too long ago. Further, the Council has explained that it asked him to remove the item because it posed a potential danger to people or cars.
In relation to the parking issue, the Council has decided it is not expedient or in the public interest to take action and that is a decision it was entitled to take. And it advised Mr X to contact the police if the car is causing an obstruction. There is no evidence the Council is favouring the neighbour because, in 2014, it decided there were safety issues but it has not identified safety issues regarding the parked car.
Final decision
We will not start an investigation because part of the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman