Decision report 201000579

Summary
Mr and Mrs C applied for a disabled parking space outside their home. Their neighbour immediately opposite applied for one at the same time. The road was not wide enough to accommodate both spaces outside the respective properties. The council's area committee considered the matter and decided to situate Mr C's space on the opposite side of the road. He found this to be unacceptable due to the nature of his medical condition. Mr and Mrs C then complained that the information presented to the area committee was misleading and inaccurate. They were unhappy with the process leading up to the decision, and the council's complaint investigation. We found that the report presented to the area committee included some subjective opinions as fact, and misrepresented the situation somewhat. We also found that Mr and Mrs C were not given enough notice of the deadline for submitting documents for the area committee. We found that the council did not respond to all of their complaints and that the investigation was clouded by personal opinion and did not concentrate solely on the facts. After their investigation, however, the council had agreed to refer the matter back to the area committee, so we made recommendations with this in mind.

Recommendations
We recommend that Aberdeenshire Council:
• compile a new report on the options for Mr C and his neighbour's disabled parking space applications;
• refer Mr C and his neighbour's disabled parking space applications back to the area committee for their consideration;
• remind complaint handling staff of the importance of responding to all points raised;
• consider reviewing the format of their investigation reports;
• set a deadline in advance for submissions from both parties prior to Mr C and his neighbour's parking space applications being reconsidered by the area committee; and
• review their procedures for the preparation of committee reports to ensure that interested parties are given clear deadlines for submissions.