Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to take enforcement action about a nearby farm’s campsite which does not have planning permission. Ms X said the noise and smoke from the campsite affect her, and it has affected her mental health. We do not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to take enforcement action about a nearby farm’s campsite which does not have planning permission.
2. Ms X said she has to leave her home every weekend because the noise and smoke from the campsite affect her. She said it has affected her mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman in September 2024 about the Council’s actions regarding planning enforcement for this site since 2021.
8. As I have said above, we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. In this case, I have not found any good reasons to exercise our discretion and look back at matters any further than 12 months before Ms X brought her complaint to us.
9. For this reason, I have investigated the Council’s actions from September 2023 to July 2024, when the Council told Ms X she had completed its complaints procedure.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered the information and documents provided by Ms X and the Council. I spoke to Ms X about her complaint. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments received before I reached a final decision.
11. I considered the relevant legislation, statutory guidance, and policies, set out below.

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What I found

What should have happened

12. Councils can take enforcement action if they find planning rules have been breached. However, councils should not take enforcement action just because there has been a breach of planning control.
13. Planning enforcement is discretionary and formal action should happen only when it would be a proportionate response to the breach. When deciding whether to enforce, councils should consider the likely impact of harm to the public and whether they might grant approval if they were to receive an application for the development or use.
14. As planning enforcement action is discretionary, councils may decide to take informal action or not to act at all. Informal action might include negotiating improvements, seeking an assurance or undertaking, or requesting submission of a planning application so they can formally consider the issues.
15. Government guidance says: “Effective enforcement is important as a means of maintaining public confidence in the planning system. Enforcement action is discretionary, and local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.” (National Planning Policy Framework September 2023, paragraph 59)

The Council’s planning enforcement policy

16. The Council’s planning enforcement policy says the following (the emphasis is the Council’s emphasis, not the Ombudsman’s):

“Planning law gives Councils powers of enforcement. It does not place a duty on Local Planning Authorities to enforce planning controls. Rather, any decision to take (or not) enforcement action will be at the council’s discretion, based on the particular circumstances of each case and the degree of harm caused by the breach.”

“Where an Enforcement Notice or other notice takes effect, but is not complied with, any owner/occupier or other person who has control of, or interest in the land, can be prosecuted.”

What happened

17. Ms X’s neighbour, who I will call ‘N’, owns a farm. N began using some of their land as a campsite.
18. The Council issued N with an enforcement notice. This told N to take down the buildings used for camping and to stop using the site as a campsite.
19. Ms X asked the Council for an update on the planning enforcement. The Council said N had to comply with the enforcement notice by a certain date.
20. Once this date had passed, Ms X repeatedly asked the Council what it planned to do to enforce the notice.
21. The Council told Ms X it would not enter into a discussion with her about its enforcement actions. It said any decisions about further action are at the Council’s discretion. It said anyone who complained about planning breaches would be updated in line with its policy. It said it would not update complainants or give them information.
22. A councillor passed on an email to Ms X that the Council had sent them. This said the Council told N it would take enforcement action if they did not comply with the enforcement notice. Since then, N submitted a planning application to approve the campsite.
23. The Council told the councillor it would determine the planning application before deciding whether to take any further enforcement action. It said it would monitor the site closely.
24. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

25. As I have said above, planning enforcement action is at a council’s discretion. This means a council can decide whether or not to take enforcement action.
26. The Council’s policy rightly says it has a power to take enforcement action, not a duty. Its policy says if someone does not comply with an enforcement notice, the person “can” be prosecuted. The policy does not say the Council “will” or “must” take enforcement action.
27. The Council is entitled to decide whether or not to take enforcement action about this campsite. It is also entitled to decide N’s planning application before it decides whether to take any further enforcement action.
28. For these reasons, I do not find the Council at fault.

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Decision

29. There is no fault, so I do not uphold Ms X’s complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman