Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s planning processes and decisions on applications for a development site next to her property. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. Mr X lives next to a site which has been the subject of residential development planning applications for several years. She complains the Council failed to:
1. notify her of the planning applications;
2. give any consideration to the existing use of her land when granting planning permission;
3. give her the chance to voice her safety concerns about the development.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information from Mrs X, relevant online planning information, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X complained to the Council in 2017 about the ‘outline’ application. An outline application means the developer sought agreement from the planning authority that residential development of the site would be acceptable in principle. Such permission must be followed by further planning applications called ‘reserved matters’ ones, or replaced by a full application which deals with all aspects of the proposed development. In this case, there were two further reserved matters planning applications for the same site. These set out the substantive detail of the proposed development reserved from the outline application and included site roads, property locations and their designs. It is often at reserved matters stage that existing residents identify any impacts they think a development may have on them. The second reserved matters application superseded the first one.
6. Mrs X complained to the Council about the outline planning application. The Council then granted the reserved matters permissions several years later and several years ago. Mrs X complained to us about the Council’s planning decisions in July 2024. We expect people to complain to us about something they believe a council has done wrong within 12 months of them becoming aware of the matters complained of. Any complaint made 12 months after someone knows about the complaint issue is late. Mrs X has known about the matters now complained of for about three years, so the complaint is late.
7. We may decide to investigate a late complaint if we consider there are good reasons to do so. There are no good reasons to investigate here. We say this because Mrs X was aware of the two reserved matters applications, including the plans to be built in the latest application, because she sent her objections to the Council on both applications. Mrs X could have complained to the Council about its substantive planning decisions and then, if dissatisfied with the outcome, brought a complaint to us in time. Any lack of knowledge of the Ombudsman is not a good reason for us to exercise discretion to investigate late complaints as we have existed for 50 years and information about our service is publicly available. There are no good reasons to warrant us exercising discretion to investigate now.
8. We note Mrs X may have complained now since the development has started. Any concerns about construction or other noise or disruption from the site may be planning enforcement or environmental health matters, separate from the earlier planning decision-making processes. If Mrs X has such concerns, she may wish to report them to the Council. It would be for officers to decide what action, if any, the Council should take.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman