Mrs A complained about Ceredigion County Council’s actions in relation to planning and enforcement issues in relation a housing development on land adjacent to her home and in particular, that the ground levels had been raised. Mrs A further complained about delays in complaint handling, the Council’s poor communication and that questions raised were not fully answered.
The Ombudsman found that there was insufficient evidence of maladministration in the planning or enforcement process to warrant investigation. There appeared to be unexplained delay in the complaints handling process but an apology had already been provided by the Council. However, the complaint response lacked detail and explanation about how the decision had been reached and the Council had not responded to additional questions raised by Mrs A.
The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. He sought and gained the Council’s agreement to provide Mrs A, within 20 working days, with a fuller complaint response, addressing the specific concerns raised with the planning department including a better explanation as how to the ground levels were calculated, a written response to the queries raised with the Complaints Department by and an apology for the Council’s failure to address the supplementary questions raised.