The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s grant of planning permission for a neighbouring extension. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s grant of planning permission for a neighbouring extension.
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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
The complainant had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
Mr X objected to a planning application (submitted in August 2021) for a neighbour’s extension. He argued that the windows in the extension would overlook his property causing loss of privacy.
The Planning Officer considered this in the report (after visiting the site). The report concluded that any windows to the front would only provide obscure views and therefore were acceptable. The report added that the windows at the rear would only separate by 15m instead of the minimum 30m expected by the Council. The Planning Officer concluded that the effect of the obscure angle of the windows was less than the existing windows and so acceptable in planning terms.
Whilst I appreciate Mr X’s disagreement with this, the Planning Officer was aware of the relationship between the buildings and the distance involved. I am satisfied that there was no administrative fault in the way the decision was reached. Mr X's dissatisfaction lies with the merits of the Council's decision but, in the absence of fault, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the Council's decision.
I note that the Council initially erred in providing a date for consultations which was incorrect. However, Mr X was able to make his objection and so I see no injustice to him from this.
Final decision
I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman