Ombudsman demands action over backlog of 1,500 planning control cases at council

A Local Government Ombudsman investigation has found that the London Borough of Hackney had a backlog of 1,500 planning enforcement cases, some of them 15 years old.

This followed a complaint from a resident that the council spent more than five years unsuccessfully trying to get his neighbour to remove an unauthorised extension.

The neighbour failed to comply with orders made by the Crown Court, continued to build, and prevented council contractors from removing the unlawful extension, which neighbours described as an eyesore.

Building work began in May 2006 and the first enforcement notice was served in March 2009.  The complainant bought a nearby house in 2010, confident that the council would take enforcement action.  
This though did not happen and the extension remained in place, a situation that the complainant has said affects his privacy and plans to extend his property.

The investigation found the complainant had repeatedly had to chase the council for action and that Hackney had a backlog of 1,500 open enforcement cases, some dating back to 2001. 

Hackney has since allocated two officers to go through these cases to decide what further action should be taken.

In December 2015 Hackney finally appointed specialist contractors to remove the extension.

Local Government Ombudsman Jane Martin said: “The public can only have trust that their local council will protect them and their local environment if those councils act swiftly and appropriately to maintain planning control.

“People may therefore feel justifiably aggrieved if their local council promises to take direct action against unlawful development, but then lets them down.”

She said planning authorities must keep track of enforcement action, and follow through when they promise to act, and that Hackney should apologise to the complainant, keep him updated on the extension’s removal and pay £2,500 as compensation for injustice.

A Hackney spokesperson said: “The council had already taken action against the unauthorised development prior to receiving the Ombudsman report and will fully meet their recommendations, all of which apart from one were initiated by the council before the Ombudsman reported.”