The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to give permission to maintain some trees. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council will not allow maintenance work to be carried out on some trees near his home.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and an update from the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X lives in a conservation area. There are some trees near Mr X’s home. Mr X says they pose a danger to his property and need to be maintained. He says this has been confirmed by tree surgeons. The trees are on land owned by a third party (Y) and Mr X says Y would be happy to maintain the trees.
Mr X asked the Council for consent to maintain the trees. A senior tree officer inspected the trees and decided they are healthy and no work is needed other than the removal of some dead work.
Mr X complained about this decision. In response the Council advised there is a formal process that can be followed by Y, or any other party, to apply for consent to do tree work in a conservation area; the Council explained the process and signposted Mr X to more information. Ultimately the person who applied for consent would have appeal rights to the Planning Inspector as part of the formal process. The Council gave more information about why its tree officer decided the trees do not require maintenance.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded correctly by arranging for a tree officer to inspect the tree and explaining his decision. Mr X disagrees with the tree officer’s opinion but it is not fault for a council to follow the professional judgement of a tree officer and it is not our role to question that judgement.
If Mr X remains of the view that the trees require maintenance, the Council correctly explained the process to apply for consent to do tree work under the formal process. The Council told me it has not received a formal application for tree work from anyone.
We are not an appeal body and cannot challenge the Council’s pre-application advice to Mr X about the trees. Further, it is not our role to by-pass the formal process that provides a way for people to apply to do tree work in a conservation area.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman