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Case ref:201102101
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Date:August 2012
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Body:Fife Council
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Sector:Local Government
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Outcome:Some upheld, recommendations
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Subject:handling of application (complaints by applicants)
Summary
Mr C raised a number of concerns about the handling of both his planning application and his representations. In particular, he complained about the time taken to process his application.
Our investigation found that while Mr C's application was not determined within two months that was not, in itself, maladministration. The law provides for such delays and gives applicants an avenue of appeal. However, we found that there had been a breakdown in communication within the council which had added to the delay in dealing with the application, which we considered unreasonable.
We also found that the council did not handle Mr C's complaint in line with their complaints process. However, there was no evidence that they had failed to provide a reasonable response to the issues raised by Mr C.
Recommendations
We recommended that the council:
- apologise for the delays identified in the complaint.