New planning complaint decisions

A weekly update on planning complaint decisions

Please note: our decisions are published six weeks after they are issued to councils, care providers and the person who has made the complaint. The cases below reflect the caselaw and guidance available at the time of issue and the individual circumstances of each case.


Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to follow its own planning guidance regarding waste storage and collection at a development site adjacent to a property he owns. We will not investigate the complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council or injustice caused to Mr X to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint regarding the Council’s response to the complainant’s concerns about a development at a neighbouring property. There is not enough evidence of fault causing a significant personal injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s request for enforcement action in relation to a planning breach at a neighbouring property. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a possible breach of planning control or an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development. This is because the complainant has not suffered any significant injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to accept a late request to review a Community Infrastructure Levy charge. We have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council agreed to a planning condition to help her access her driveway, but it has since discharged the condition without the provision of a dropped kerb. We did not find fault with the Council’s decision. We found some fault with the Council’s poor communication with her at some points. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X to remedy this injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a planning application for housing and a planning application for a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) to be amended because there is no evidence of fault and the planning application for the buildings has not yet been determined.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the injustice cannot be determined at this stage.

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of a non-material amendment application and planning enforcement investigation for a development near her home. She also complained about the Council’s consideration of her complaints about this matter. We found fault by the Council, and it has agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £300 in recognition of the injustice caused to her by the identified fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to comply with a covenant. This is because it would be reasonable for the complainant to take the matter to court.

Summary: X complained about the Council’s failure to take planning enforcement action against a business that operates near the business X operates. We found fault that the Council has agreed to take action to reduce the likelihood of it to happening again.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a possible breach of planning control. This is because the complainant has not suffered any significant personal injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector. It is also unlikely an investigation could add to the Council’s response.

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of a planning application near his home. We have found no fault with the Council’s actions.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of planning applications for a property next to the complainant. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner, and there is not enough evidence that fault has affected the planning outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the complainant has not suffered any significant injustice.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Authority dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because the complainant can appeal to the Planning Inspector.

Summary: X complained that the Council discriminates against them when it considers the planning applications they submit for approval. We ended this investigation because we saw no evidence of discrimination, we are unlikely to find fault or show the outcome would have been different. There are also other bodies better placed to decide the issues raised in this complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning application for a development which will impact Mr X’s property. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to take planning enforcement action against a wall built near the complainant's house. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have contacted us sooner, the alleged fault has not caused the complainant a significant personal injustice, and we cannot achieve the main outcome she is seeking.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the complainant has not suffered significant injustice. It is also unlikely an investigation would add to the Council’s response.

Summary: There is no fault by the Council in how it handled planning matters at a development near Mr B’s home.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s processing of an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for development of a site close to the complainant’s home.