Kingston Upon Hull City Council (20 000 221)
Category : Other Categories > Land
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Jul 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to close park gates close to his shop. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because an investigation is unlikely to find fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to close park gates close to his shop.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X owns a shop which is close to the entrance of a Council owned park. She says that the gates to the park were closed in January 2019 and this caused a reduction in her business (from park users passing by).
- The Council says that the entrance is for vehicles and, following a near collision where a car collided with the gate causing severe damage, the Council concluded that it would be safer for park users if the gates were permanently closed.
- I note that a pedestrian access to the park (about 50m from Mr X’s shop) remains open for anyone wishing to use his shop.
- It is within the Council’s power to lock their gates if they consider them to be safer as a consequence. I am satisfied that the Council had evidence to persuade themselves that public safety would be best served by the gate’s closure.
- Mr X's dissatisfaction lies with the merits of the Council's decision but, in the absence of fault, the Ombudsman cannot criticise the Council's decision.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because an investigation be unlikely to conclude fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman