Mr X complained that Flintshire County Council had failed to enforce planning regulations in relation to his neighbour accommodating several static caravans on land contrary to the Enforcement Notice issued in 2023.
The Ombudsman concluded that whilst the Council had responded to the complaint and agreed to undertake steps to enforce the decision, it had failed to indicate when it would undertake the steps outlined in its Step 2 response. The Ombudsman said this caused uncertainty, frustration, and inconvenience to Mr X. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to issue a further response (within 3 weeks) to detail when the proposed site visit will likely take place. An additional response should also be issued to Mr X following the site visit to explain its proposal for dealing with the non-compliance.