Overview
The complainant (Mrs C) raised concerns about the City of Edinburgh Council (the Council)'s handling of a planning application for the erection of a two-storey extension at her neighbour's property.
Specific complaint and conclusion
The complaint which has been investigated is that the Council failed to follow due process prior to planning permission being granted for the erection of a two-storey extension at Mrs C's neighbour's property (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:
- (i) refer the application to committee to consider whether it would be appropriate to make a revocation order, in terms of the use and development of the land;
- (ii) review the email system currently in place in the planning team to ensure that overloading of inboxes does not result in lost emails on planning applications;
- (iii) feed back my decision on this case to the planning team; and
- (iv) apologise to Mrs C for failing to investigate her complaint properly and for failing to ensure that a local Councillor's request was processed correctly.
The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.