The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a planning application. There is no personal injustice because the Council have not yet decided, and an investigation could not achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking. In any case, even if it is approved by the Council, we would not investigate, because there is no significant injustice.
The complaint
Mr X was unhappy the Council would not consider an alternative layout or siting for facilities, that a developer has proposed in a planning application, near his home.
Mr X is concerned now about the potential disruption and is worried it will devalue his home.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide: any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X raised his objections with the Council, after he saw a proposal in a planning application for a building development, in particular this was about how the layout of the site was being proposed.
The Council has yet to decide on this matter, so at this point, Mr X has not suffered any injustice in the Council’s actions. Mr X has also asked the Council look at less disruptive options, that would minimise the impact on him, and the information shows it has done so. However, we could not direct the Council to take any other action in line with Mr X’s requests, so we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.
Furthermore, if it is the case, the Council approve the application, we would not investigate, because there is no significant personal injustice.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no injustice, and we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman