Planning and Building Control : Caerphilly County Borough Council

Mr A and Ms B complained about a Certificate of Lawfulness for an Established Use or Development granted by Caerphilly County Borough Council (the Council) in relation to a shooting range near their home and that the Council had not responded to their complaints in accordance with its Corporate Complaints Policy.

The Ombudsman declined to investigate. Although the Council had provided responses to correspondence, they had been treated as service requests. The Ombudsman found that the Council had not considered the complaint in accordance with its Corporate Complaints Policy.

The Council agreed to within 20 working days, investigate the complaint under stage 1 of its Corporate Complaints Policy and provide Mr A and Ms B with a written response to the complaints submitted to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman’s view was that the above action was reasonable to settle Mr A and Ms B’s complaint.