Ealing Council has been criticised and found to be “at fault” by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman over its handling of a planning process linked to works at Lammas Park.
In a decision notice, the ombudsman identified a series of administrative failings in how the Labour-run council handled objections and communicated with a resident, saying it failed to properly record representations or ensure those concerns were passed to planning officers or decision-makers.
The report states this failure “led to uncertainty” about whether the objections might have influenced the outcome of the application. The ombudsman also found fault in how the council handled representations and aspects of the process, concluding that key information was not consistently managed or clearly documented.
Further criticism was made of the council’s communication, with the watchdog highlighting “the way the Council dealt with communications”. Responses to the complainant were found to lack clarity and did not fully address the issues raised, contributing to what the report describes as “avoidable frustration”.
The ombudsman also identified fault in Ealing Council’s complaint handling, including delays and weaknesses in how it responded once the concerns had been formally raised.
However, the report did not uphold all aspects of the complaint. The ombudsman found no fault in the council’s decision to determine the planning application itself, concluding there was insufficient evidence to show the outcome would have been different. It also did not find fault in certain procedural steps, including the council’s ability to consider amendments within the application process, indicating these fell within accepted planning practice.
Reacting to the findings, the leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, Councillor Gary Malcolm, said: “Liberal Democrats think it extraordinary that a resident felt the need to take Ealing’s Labour-run council to the ombudsman over the extremely poor management of the SuDS scheme in Lammas Park. Ealing Council clearly do not do the basics correctly.
“The report is damning in that Ealing Council are at fault for many aspects including not treating the application as major development, allowing unauthorised works, having to reapply for planning application, not consulting the chair of the planning committee and disruption to park users.”
Councillor Malcolm added: “I remain of the view that the portfolio member responsible should resign as residents have lost faith in the leadership and management of the SuDS scheme, which I called for in an open letter last week.
“Furthermore, because the ombudsman case only covered some of the concerns of residents the Liberal Democrats still believe that the council should have a full review of all matters that relate to the SuDS scheme to learn the lessons for future SuDS projects.”
While the final decision was not judged to be flawed, the ombudsman said the process leading up to it was. It recommended that the council apologise to the complainant and review its procedures, particularly around recording representations, ensuring they are properly considered, and improving communication with residents.
Ealing Council has accepted the findings and agreed to implement the recommended improvements.
EALING.NEWS has reached out to Ealing Council for comment.
