The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for development near Mrs X’s home. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council has granted planning permission for development next to her home. Mrs X says the development will have a significant impact on her property including loss of light, privacy and parking.
Mrs X says she and other residents have been subject to intimidation and bullying from people associated with the development and have had to involve the police.
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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and information about the development on the Council’s website.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
There is no evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision to grant planning permission. The Council has produced an officer report which considers the impact of the development on neighbouring properties as well as parking in line with its planning policies. Therefore we will no investigate this complaint.
Mrs X says the Council has failed to consider the impact of the development on private rights and covenants that apply to the land. These are civil matters between parties subject to any rights or covenants. These are not matters the Council can consider when deciding whether or not to grant planning permission.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision to grant planning permission.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman