Ombudsman finds Ealing Council at fault with many areas of Lammas Park SuDS fiasco

The Ombudsman finds Ealing Council at fault in Lammas Park's SuDs scheme which is meant to reduce flooding.

The Ombudsman have found the London Borough of Ealing (LBE) at fault in the management and delivery of the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDs) scheme in Lammas Park. 

It was noted that failings included unauthorised works, disruption to park users and avoidable frustration and uncertainty regarding the fairness and impartiality of the decision making process. The Ombudsman only investigated part of the SuDs decision making process, not all aspects. 

The faults were:

• Not considering what would happen to the excavated soil. It was spread across the park increasing ground levels and in places which did not have planning permission.
• Not considering the SuDs scheme to be a major development. 
• Inadequate consultation occurred with residents, it was not advertised correctly.
• Lack of involvement of the Chair of Planning Committee.
• Delays in LBEs response to the complaint missing its own targets on two occasions and caused unnecessary frustration. 

Councillor Gary Malcolm, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition 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 Gary 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.”