The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the complainant has not suffered significant injustice because of the alleged fault.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council is dealing with a planning application for a development near his home. Mr X says the Council is taking too long to determine the application and has failed to communicate with residents. Mr X also says the Council has not made the public aware of the planning history for the development site and gave the applicant flawed pre-application planning advice.
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: 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 Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X has raised concerns about the proposed development and the Council’s handling of the application and pre-application advice. He says the Council could and should have refused planning permission some time ago.
The Ombudsman will not investigate a complaint unless clear and significant injustice has been caused because of an alleged fault. In this case, the Council has not yet determined the planning application. Therefore, I cannot yet say what, if any, injustice Mr X may have suffered as planning permission may still be refused.
Mr X is unhappy with how long it is taking the Council to determine the application. While I understand the uncertainty relating to the possible development may be frustrating, I cannot say Mr X has suffered any significant personal injustice because of any delays.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not suffered any significant injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman