he Council’s decision not to take planning enforcement action against a neighbour’s breach of planning control. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making .
The complaint
The complainant, I shall call Mr B, complains the Council refuses to take enforcement action against a neighbour’s failure to complete the approved scheme of landscaping to their front garden.
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)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council agrees the landscaping to the front of the property does not match the scheme set out in the approved plans. However, it considers difference between the approved scheme and what is built is not significant enough to warrant formal action.
It also believes the current scheme can be achieved under permitted development. And, as the frontage is fairly modest, it is unlikely to contribute to significant problems even without arrangements to channel surface water into a porous surface.
I recognise Mr B disagrees with the Council’s decision. He believes the failure to enforce planning rules will erode public trust in the planning process. However, we cannot question the Council’s decision not to act without evidence of fault in the way the decision was made.
I see no evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to take enforcement action. Therefore, we will not start an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint. There is no evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman