spso

[bunty39]

has anyone sought justice through applying to the ombudsman, on a matter concerning the handling of an objection to a planning application? would appreciate your experience, successful or unsuccessful.

[jackthehat]

Were you the objectee, or was your application objected to ?

A little more expansion could help..........

[bunty39]

i was the objector. the plans, admittedly not in accordance with local plan policy, (officers words on the report) were rushed through to facilitate the removal of an unauthorised development on the site that has a building standards enforcement notice on it., the plans which are for an extension, are actually for a self-contained dwelling con- joined to the original dwelling, which would result in a property more than double the size of the original. didn't mean to go on as far as this, but there's no short answer.

[jackthehat]

I've responded to you on matter this before, bunty.

Which plans were rushed through ?

[bunty39]

yes, jackthehat, you did respond before on the same case., this matter has been going on for more than two years.
i was notified of the plans for an extension on 3rd july 2010. permission was granted on 30th july. my notification said that the last date for representations was the 24th july. i viewed the plans at the customer services but found it hard to retain all the information i knew the plans were extensive, but not for an extension as i know it.
i tried to look the plans up on the council website but discovered that those particular plans had been kept off the net. i asked the council to e-mail them to me but they refused.
i felt i had to get advice from a lawyer and also asked him to draft a letter of objection for me. he contacted the council and was told that the last day for representations was 21st july. that my objection was late but that they would accept it. on receiving an acknowledgement of my objection., the letter said that late submissions would not be considered. i had to clear up that point also, but to no avail,
., my objections amounted to nothing. the only recourse i have now is the ombudsman. by the way, i would welcome an extension, especially if it involved the removal of the unauthorised development, but these plans passed are away and beyond reasonable. your comments regarding the value of an ombudsman would be appreciated.

[buildersmate]

SPSO is the public services ombudsman for Scotland.
http://www.spso.org.uk/how-complain
Has the planning authority confirmed that you have exhausted their complaints procedure? - which is a first necessary step before a complaint to the SPSO.

[bunty39]

hi buildersmate,
yes, i have been informed that i have exhausted the complaints procedure and can approach the ombudsman now. i just don't want to go from one brick wall to another. i would like opinions on the value of contacting the spso.

[bunty39]

I think I'd better try to explain the situation a little bit better., and maybe you will all know what i'm on about.
In may this year I made a formal complaint to the council regarding the stalemate situation of the building standards warrant enforcement notice on the unauthorised development on my neighbours property. The enforcement notice had been on it for two years. I exhausted the proper complaint procedures., then the final letter in reply to my complaint informed me that an application for an extension to their original cottage had been submitted by the owners, and the council were confident that this would bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. I was delighted about the prospect until I saw the plans for the " EXTENSION(S). " I've described what the plans were, and the hurdles that were put in the way of my making representation.
Has anyone had any dealings with the ombudsman?

[buildersmate]

I remember the case from before, Bunty, as I either commented on it or read what JTH had written and decided he had it well covered.
Sorry, no, had no dealings with ombudsman for local authority administration.
Sounds to me like the council were looking for a way out of the planning mess they had got themselves into and rather rushed in their efforts to achieve this.

[bunty39]

Yes, buildersmate, I'm sure you're right about how this situation came about. The local councillor who went out of his way to see that a certificate of lawfulness was granted for the development, was also on the planning board who decided on the issue. He had requested that the case was put before the board instead of being delegated to a planning officer. In spite of there being no records of any kind to link the development with utilities, mail, counciltax etc. the certificate was awarded.
I could almost feel sorry for the council except for the way they are willing to sacrifice my rights to rectify their mistakes.
I'll hang on a bit to see if anyone answers my query about spso., and then probably go ahead and ask spso to investigate. I don't think that " doing nothing " is an option.
thanks again buildersmate.