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Category : Planning > Enforcement Decision : Closed after initial enquiries Decision date : 17 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council discharging planning conditions without ensuring that the requirements of the approval have been met. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council discharging the planning conditions on a site near his home before the required landscaping was completed. As a result, he says that the landscaping and boundary work is incomplete and the site is an eyesore. He says the Council cannot take enforcement action now because it has already discharged the conditions without ensuring the works were completed.
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, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council discharged planning conditions relating to the landscaping of a nearby development without ensuring that the works were complete. As a result, he says that the site is unfinished and is an eyesore for nearby residents to face. Because the conditions were discharged he says the Council has effectively prevented any enforcement action being taken to have the site made compliant.
Mr X made a previous complaint (case ref: 24020098) about the Council’s failure to take enforcement action over 4 years from when he believes the development was complete and the discharge of the conditions in 2020. We did not investigate that complaint because it was outside the 12-month period for making complaints.
The Council says that it is aware that the landscaping requirements have not bene met and that because one of the conditions is dependent upon the site being completed before it can be put into use then it retains a discretionary power to enforce the condition. The site has changed hands since the plans were approved and it says it has not used its discretionary enforcement powers yet because it is working with the new owners to seek compliance.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
Councils have discretionary powers to take enforcement action against breaches of planning regulations. The Council has considered the case and says it retains the power to take enforcement action over the condition on landscaping, even though the site has changed hands.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council discharging planning conditions without ensuring that the requirements of the approval have been met. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman