BRADFORD Council has been ordered to apologise to a resident and award her £100 compensation after a complaint was upheld by the Local Government Ombudsman.

The woman, only referred to as Mrs C in the recently published Ombudsman's report, complained after Bradford Council approved plans for a single house to be built close to her home.

She claimed the Council did not properly consider the application, did not communicate the fact that a meeting where the plans were being discussed would be cancelled due to Covid 19, and demanded the authority revoke the planning consent.

Although the Ombudsman found fault with how the Council communicated changes to the planning meeting, they found that there was no fault in the plans being approved.

The plan was submitted in January 2020, and Mrs C was one of several objectors. Originally the application was to be heard by a planning committee that March. But when Covid led to meetings being cancelled, the Council informed objectors the decision was being delayed to a later meeting.

Planning decision 'not wrong just because someone disagrees with it'

In fact the meeting was cancelled outright, and the decision made by a planning officer who wrote a detailed report on the plans.

The Ombudsman's decision said: "The report shows the Council considered all relevant planning considerations. These include the impact on the environment, loss of privacy, highway safety and wildlife.

"For this reason, I propose finding the Council considered the application without fault."

But referring to the cancellation of the planning meeting, they added: "The Council gave Mrs C confusing messages regarding the postponement of the planning panel and acknowledged that it should have communicated the decision for the cancellation of this better.

"In this case the Council did not notify her of its intention to proceed using its delegated powers or inform her in time that the panel meeting was cancelled. Mrs C was only made aware of this after the Council had made its decision. This was fault and caused Mrs C the injustice of raised expectations and frustration. It also put her to the time and trouble of complaining."

The Ombudsman ordered the Council to apologise to Mrs C for the frustration caused by its confusing messages and pay her £100 for the raised expectation and frustration.