Ombudsman criticises “delay and drift” in planning enforcement case

Complainant Mr X said the council closed an enforcement complaint before responding to all the issues, delayed taking action on an enforcement investigation and failed to keep him updated.

The Ombudsman said: “There has been delay and drift in this case as four years after Mr X first reported breaches of planning control the matters are still not concluded causing frustration and uncertainty.”

Mr X lives in a grade two listed property next to a business including shops and a café.

He complained in July 2022 about breaches of planning control there including the siting of shipping containers and rights of way issues.

Planning enforcement and environmental health officers made a joint site visit but the council did not write to the neighbours until April 2023 advising that planning permission was required for three specific breaches of planning control.

The neighbours submitted a retrospective planning application in May 2023 but by January 2024 this had still not been determined.

This was eventually approved in May 2024 but in July that year the council opened a new case as concerns were raised during a planning committee meeting about the siting of other shipping containers.

Mr X again contacted the council but it did not respond until 6 September 2024 when Mid Suffolk accepted it had failed to progress and respond to his previous complaints.

The council then wrote to the neighbour on 11 September advising planning permission was required for four shipping containers but did not chase this up until March 2025. It validated a further application on 30 October that year, which was recently withdrawn.

In its report, the Ombudsman said: ”So the situation remains that after almost four years, the council has still not completed its enforcement investigation and provided a comprehensive response to Mr X.

“While not all of this time is due to avoidable delay, a large part of it is. There are periods of inaction and drift that amount to fault.”

Mid Suffolk was also at fault for giving Mr X no stage one response to his initial complaint.

The Ombudsman said Mid Suffolk should apologise to Mr X and pay him £300 and identify the reasons for the delays and set out a plan with timescales for action.

A Mid Suffolk spokesperson said: “This was an extremely complex case due to several factors and we accept the decision of the Ombudsman.

“We have already completed a number of steps as recommended by the Ombudsman, including issuing a formal apology and providing compensation. A further written response, as requested, is also in progress.  

“Following on from this ruling, we have introduced a new complaints management system that has given council staff improved visibility of cases to ensure they can be identified, tracked and responded to within a specified time frame.”

Mark Smulian