LGO criticises council over mishandling of planning application

A local authority has been criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman and told to review its procedures after the botched handling of a planning application in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

In a report the Ombudsman, Jane Martin, said South Oxfordshire District Council had committed multiple errors when it first considered an application for a replacement property.

Martin said: “It was only the action taken by [the complainants] on the advice of their legal team that prevented the council from issuing a decision notice thereby granting planning permission with maladministration.”

Mr and Mrs Beech (not their real names) had complained that the council had failed to consider its own policies, guidance and procedures when it resolved to grant planning permission to their neighbours to replace an existing bungalow with a larger, two-storey property.

The Ombudsman ruled that there had been maladministration causing injustice because South Oxfordshire failed to:

• Properly record a datum point for levels agreed with an officer on site
• Ensure appropriate plans were submitted in accordance with earlier planning conditions
• Notify the complainants of a minor amendment to the planning application
• Publicise an application as a departure from its development plan policy; or
• Correctly report information to members.

Mr and Mrs Beech came to believe that the building now near their home may not have been built had the council properly considered the matter in 2006.

The council recognised its failings. Subsequently, a largely new planning committee undertook a site visit (by which stage the building was almost complete), prior to considering the planning application afresh in 2008. The committee had all relevant information, including expert comments as well as objections from Mr and Mrs Beech, before it.

The LGO concluded that this committee’s decision to grant permission was made without maladministration.

However, in order to remedy the original injustice, Martin recommended that the council apologise to the complainants, pay them £5,000 as a contribution to their costs of obtaining the professional advice that forced the authority to review its decision, and pay them £500 for the time and inconvenience in making a complaint.

The LGO also said that South Oxfordshire should review its procedures “to prevent such a situation occurring again”.