Mrs C complained that Newport City Council (“the Council”) had failed to communicate properly with her or her agent during a planning application she made to it for an extension to her home. She stated that there had been delays in the process and that she missed the opportunity to appeal its decision to refuse her application because of poor communication by its planning officers.
She also complained that no one from the Council had spoken to her during its investigation of her complaint to it.
The Ombudsman, during his assessment of her complaint to him, was concerned about the Council’s communications when its planning officer’s report was delayed. It sought to remedy this in its Stage 1complaint response to Mrs C but, this was not fully explained to her when it offered to waive its pre-application fee. The Ombudsman, therefore contacted the Council.
It agreed to: 1. Ensure that a planning officer would contact her within 14 working days of the date of the decision letter in order to assist her with any advice regarding a pre-application enquiry.
2. Arrange a site visit to her property as part of this pre-application process.
3. Waiver any fees for the resubmission of a planning application by her for an extension to her home before the 21 July 2021.
The Ombudsman is satisfied that this action will resolve Mrs C’s complaint.