Cornwall Council has been criticised and ordered to apologise and pay compensation to a man whose village green application was delayed by more than a decade.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) found that the council had taken more than 11 years to decide the application.

A full report into the LGO’s investigation was published today and orders the council to apologise and pay the complainant £600.

The council has said that it will be holding a public inquiry into the village green application.

The complainant, only identified as Mr B, had applied to the council to register a new village green in 2008 on behalf of 146 residents.

But he went to the LGO with his complaint saying that the council had unnecessarily delayed his application and also failed to keep him informed about what was happening.

In its report the LGO outlines what happened with the application with a lengthy explanation of how the council had promised to hold public inquiries which were then stopped after third parties got involved with the application.

The council then made a decision to refuse the application without holding a public inquiry which triggered a complaint from Mr B about the way the council dealt with the application.

There were then a number of further delays which took the matter right up to 2018.

In its findings the LGO said that the council was at fault due to delays in 2014 and says that the council did not learn from that and there were further delays.

The report states: “Considering these points, we can only conclude the council was at fault for these unnecessary delays. It has not dealt with the matter in an expeditious manner and seems to consider it a low priority, given its lack of urgency. We appreciate the application process has been complicated by legal difficulties and threats made by the third party, however this in no way justifies the protracted delays and inaction, which has culminated in the council taking over 10 years to consider the application. And it is important to remember the process has not yet concluded.”

The LGO also said that the council was also at fault for not keeping Mr B updated about what was happening with the application.

In its recommendations the LGO says that the council should decide within two months whether to hold a public inquiry and should “sincerely apologise” to Mr B for the “failures”. It also calls for the council to pay Mr B £300 for the uncertainty caused by the fault and £300 for his time and trouble in making the complaint.

LGO Michael King said: “While I appreciate this particular application has been beset with complications, it nevertheless would have been good administrative practice to keep the man updated and informed about its progress.

“The man has been put to significant time and trouble over the past decade over the matter, and is now concerned that as several original members of his group have passed away, this will have an impact on the group’s ability to present evidence to any future inquiry.

“I welcome that Cornwall Council has now decided to hold a public inquiry into the case and hope this will resolve the situation for all concerned.”

In a statement Cornwall Council said: “We accept the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report and apologise for the impact the delays have had on the individuals involved. We are planning for a public inquiry to take place in the autumn.”