Overview
The complainants, a firm of solicitors (Firm C), brought a complaint to my office on behalf of a number of clients. The complaint concerned the way in which Dumfries and Galloway Council (the Council) had reached its decision to identify a particular location as suitable for inclusion in the list of Small Building Groups suitable for limited housing development.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that the Council:
- (a) failed to act in a consistent and fair manner in assessing the criteria for identifying suitable locations (upheld);
- (b) failed to produce adequate reasoned justification for moving a location from the unsuitable list to the suitable list and, in doing so, ignored advice in the committee reports (upheld);
- (c) did not adhere to the governance advice provided by Council officers (not upheld);
- (d) failed to adequately advise the public of the proposed changes (not upheld);
- (e) failed to follow the established procedure of considering each location on its merits in favour of a 'block group' consideration (not upheld); and
- (f) failed to handle the complaint adequately (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:
- (i) review the manner in which the case was handled to ensure public confidence in public administration and the planning system; and
- (ii) issue a full and clear apology to Firm C for the failings identified in the handling of the complaint.
The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.