Overview
The complainants (Mr and Mrs C) formerly lived in a detached house in the country adjacent to a Forestry Commission operation centre (the Depot). Mr C complained about a number of planning proposals submitted by the Forestry Commission and the handling of those applications by Scottish Borders Council (the Council) and what he considered to be breaches of development control. Together, Mr and Mrs C raised a number of concerns regarding the operation of the Depot and public access and matters concerning the operation of a café and bicycle hire business (the Business).
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that:
- (a) the Council, as planning authority, failed properly to exercise their powers of development control and enforcement both with regard to the general planning situation at the Depot and with regard to temporary planning consents for the Business (not upheld);
- (b) the Forestry Commission, as developers, allowed activities to commence ahead of obtaining planning consent and made errors in their proposals to the detriment of Mr and Mrs C (partially upheld to the extent that some activities began before planning consents were granted); and
- (c) the Forestry Commission, as owners of the Depot and landlords of the Business, failed to act with diligence in dealing with issues of indecency, noise, wind blown dust and disturbance to Mr and Mrs C at anti-social hours (not upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman has no recommendations to make.