Summary
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s decision to approve a planning application near his home and its handling of his complaint about the matter. The substantive complaint is late and it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures alone.
The complaint
Mr B complains about the Council’s decision to approve a planning application near his home. He says the planning approval process was flawed. He wants the Council to revoke the planning permission. He also complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 the complainant, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council received a planning application for a site near Mr B’s home. The Council approved the application. Mr B has raised concerns about the Council’s decision-making process for this planning application and how it handled his subsequent complaint.
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is late. A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. It has been more than 12 months since the Council approved the planning application and since Mr B has known about this decision. I can see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate. Mr B could have approached us sooner if he was dissatisfied with the decision at that time.
We will also not investigate the Council’s complaints handling. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to investigate the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is late and it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures in isolation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman