Inclusion and Transparency in Planning Decision-Making: Planning Officer Reports to the Planning Committee

Abstract

Language is central to effective communication and communication is the foundation of the current orthodoxy in planning theory. For communication to be effective in fostering the greater public engagement in planning demanded by communicative and collaborative planning theorists it must be inclusive and transparent. This article examines the language used in the reports produced by planning officers in UK development control decision-making. These reports to planning committees are the only documents available to the public that communicate the local planning authority's assessment of a planning application before a decision is made. They are, therefore, a crucial communication tool in planning and yet are rarely the subject of research. The results of the content analysis of these reports suggests that far from being in the mould of communicative and collaborative planning theory they remain exclusive and shrouded in the language of the rational professional expert.

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Notes on contributors

Michael Weston

†Joe Weston died on 6 November 2011 just after this paper was accepted. His colleagues at Oxford Brookes University remember him as a passionate and dedicated academic, at the forefront of important planning issues. His son and co-author, Michael writes: ‘the following paper is dedicated to the memory of my father, Joe Weston. I was proud to be able to work on the research elements with him and we were both happy to learn that it had been accepted for publication’.