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Case ref:201205373
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Date:January 2014
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Body:Dumfries and Galloway Council
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Sector:Local Government
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Outcome:Some upheld, recommendations
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Subject:complaints handling
Summary
Mr C objected to a planning application submitted to the council for an extension to a building. He complained to us that the council refused to accept his further representations but allowed the applicant to make some, which he thought was unfair. We obtained independent advice from one of our planning advisers, who said that the further submissions from the applicant appeared to have been considered as supporting information, and did not change the nature of the proposal.
Mr C also complained that the council's system for providing public online access to planning documents was faulty, and that it continued to be a problem. Our investigation found that the council had not failed to provide relevant information online, but we suggested that it might be beneficial for them to look at whether their planning portal could be improved. We did find that they failed to acknowledge and respond to an email that Mr C had sent about his complaint.
Recommendations
We recommended that the council:
- apologise to Mr C for failing to acknowledge and respond appropriately to his email.