Sueing the local council

warby68

MannyLondon wrote: »

Thanks, yes I am putting a dossier together and follow my council’s compliant procedure. Will report back.

I'd avoid a 'dossier' and keep it simple in the first instance.

You just want a higher up second look without being all accusatory to start with. Conspiracy theories and accusations of wrong doing are likely to result in a defensive stance. A simple 'my interpretation of the rules is this. Please can someone overview and advise.'

MannyLondon

@missile, @warby68

Thanks, yes I agree, what I meant is that we have started putting together a timeline and dossier (for later use) because there are so many things that went wrong that we had to start putting a document together showing the lack of consistency in the whole thing. Just to name a few: the reasons provided for the refusal are not written in the policy and are pure speculation. After we appealed (with a detailed response, point by point, very factual and objective) the council officer never bothered replying. After 20+ days we chased him by email and he said that he was expecting the ward councillor to reply (!). The council policy states that a response will be provided within 10 days. This is insane as I expect an employee of the council to formally reply and not a councillor. Then the officer suddenly replies (by email) and says that we don’t have the required 2.4m width but there is absolutely nothing in the policy or anywhere that states that a width of 2.4m is required. As of today we still don’t have a formal and intelligible response...

As you suggested we will keep it objective, nice and punchy in the first instance when formally putting in the compliant following the local council procedure.

The whole adventure smells so bad that I started thinking that perhaps they simply don’t want to do it or that someone does not want us to have a crossover. We do meet all the criteria though...

jimbo6977

Could prove expensive but...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandamus#England_and_Wales

MannyLondon

How much would the mandamus way be?

jimbo6977

MannyLondon wrote: »

How much would the mandamus way be?

Eye-watering. Barristers etc.

Follow the clowncil's complaints procedure, then go to the [STRIKE]omnibus[/STRIKE] ombudsman if necessary.

Attempts to obtain mandamus writs are usually the reserve of the swivel-eyed, green-ink brigade.

[Deleted User]

MannyLondon wrote: »

I even suspect something really dodgy that might be happening behind the scenes (bribery or some sort of fraud comes to mind). .

MannyLondon wrote: »

The local councillor seemed helpful at first but she kind of disappeared afterwards. Perhaps she discovered something and then radio silence. All very suspicious.

MannyLondon wrote: »

The whole adventure smells so bad that I started thinking that perhaps they simply don’t want to do it or that someone does not want us to have a crossover. We do meet all the criteria though...

What possible reason would there be for denying you a crossover other than safety and cost concerns?
Bribery? Really? Of whom and for what gain?

I think you need to approach this far more sensibly.
Throw away any "dossier", forget about legal action and simply make a complaint that you cannot see any reasonable reason the Council have denied your application.

lincroft1710

If this was a planning application, then you can appeal

https://www.gov.uk/appeal-planning-decision

Jumblebumble

MannyLondon wrote: »

Thanks a lot, will certainly do that. Very useful. Do they take these things seriously, are they truly impartial?

I have had 2 complaints against my local council
The first went to the LGO as the council had been messing me about big time
as soon as the LGO were involved the council rolled over before the LGO had their response
The second the council rolled over when I did not think they would
I suspect this is because I was on their list of complainers who are prepared to involve LGO
Make of this what you will

lincroft1710

Jumblebumble wrote: »

Make of this what you will

You have a weak minded council.

MannyLondon

Jumblebumble wrote: »

I have had 2 complaints against my local council
The first went to the LGO as the council had been messing me about big time
as soon as the LGO were involved the council rolled over before the LGO had their response
The second the council rolled over when I did not think they would
I suspect this is because I was on their list of complainers who are prepared to involve LGO
Make of this what you will

Can I go directly to the Ombudsman?

I have already appealed through to the officer who rejected my application, but he didn't even bother reply within the 10 days as specified on the website. He said that the councillor should have replied (???) by email. As of today, I don't have a formal answer as to why my application was rejected.

Summary (more of less) of what happened until now:
1) Applied for vehicle crossover
2) Received formal letter with refusal. Reason for refusal are not exactly listed on policy, other reasons are mentioned on refusal letter (!)
3) We appeal, and produce a detailed letter explaining where and why they failed to apply their own policy correctly. I solicitor friend of mine helped draft the response here.
4) No formal response from the officer for quite some time...
5) We involve the ward councillor. She agrees that the refusal does not make sense, but there is little she can do she says
6) We finally receive a half baked response from the officer (via email, something like 20 or so days after the chasers) stating the same reasons as the original letter (i.e. he ignored our appeal letter completely and says that we are trying to come up with a reason to approve the crossover (!)
7) With regard to the officer who refused our application: it is like talking to a broken record, it seems that in the entire department it is all down to an officer's interpretation of their own policy. (For the record, I am a chartered mechanical engineer and I do like technical drawings, policies and rules. I am 100% certain that our application complies 100% with the rules contained in the policy)....and the reasons provided by the officer do not have any logic whatsoever.

Brickwall. A very good use of my council tax money I would say!

Can I go directly to the LGO or do I still need to follow the Council local compliant procedure first? I feel that I am just wasting time as my complaint will very likely go to the same department. Perhaps even the same officer, who knows. But I will do it if I have to clear this step before engaging with the LGO...?