The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council decision that cycle storage where she lives does not breach planning control. We have not seen enough evidence of fault in the way the Council came to its decision.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council fails to enforce against a breach of a planning condition for cycle storage where she lives.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X on the Council’s website.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X says the cycle storage provided by the developer does not meet the planning condition as it cannot be secured.
The Council is satisfied the cycle storage provided is consistent with the information provided when the developer applied to discharge the planning conditions. It has confirmed there is no breach of planning control on the site.
The Ombudsman does not provide a right of appeal against the Council’s decision that there is no breach of planning control. Our role is to review the process by which the Council has reached its decision.
There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council here to justify an investigation. In reaching this view I have considered that: It is for the Council to decide whether there is a breach of planning control.
The Council is satisfied the cycle storage provided matches that stated in the application to discharge the relevant planning condition.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision that cycle storage on site is not a breach of the planning condition.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman