The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to approve materials for a development next to Mr X’s property. This is because part of his complaint is late and there is no reason why he could not have complained sooner. Mr X has not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s more recent decision regarding materials.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has failed to ensure a neighbouring property was built in line with planning permission. Mr X says the property has not been rendered in an appropriate colour and this has a negative impact on the local area.
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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) 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 Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council granted planning permission for the new property in December 2020. The planning permission contained a condition which said materials should be submitted to the Council for approval before building work started.
The Council noted at the time that the “walls are proposed to be Cotswold stone on the roadside elevation, with render and glass on the side and rear elevations”. Information provided with the application said this would be a “light coloured render”.
The developer submitted a further application with details of materials to be used. This showed that the render would be “white light with scraped finish”. The Council approved the use of the materials in June 2021.
Mr X was aware of the Council’s decision to grant planning permission in December 2020. He did not complain to the Ombudsman until July 2022. Therefore this is a late complaint. Whilst the Council did not approve materials to be used until June 2021 the information provided with the planning application made it clear that a light coloured render was proposed for the building. If Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s decision to grant planning permission in December 2020 it was open to him to complain at the time.
The Council’s decision to approve the use of a “white light” render in June 2021 is in line with plans approved in December 2020. The Council has not provided reasons for its decision as required by the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014, however I cannot see that this has caused Mr X an injustice.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of his complaint is late and there is no reason why he could not have complained sooner. Mr X has not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s more recent decision regarding materials for a neighbouring development.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman