Information is Power: Public Disclosure of Information in the Planning Decision-Making Process

Abstract

The legitimacy and effectiveness of community engagement in planning lies in the extent to which the public can access the information required for informed decision-making. The control of ‘commercially sensitive material’ by local authorities acting as gatekeepers is a therefore a challenging area of information management within the planning application process. Through the analysis of key cases in England, this paper identifies that regulations do provide for ‘commercially sensitive material’ to be released to communities in many cases, but there is a need to achieve better transparency for communities about what information should be available about a development proposal.

Keywords::

• planning decisions
• freedom of information
• disclosure
• community engagement
• commercial sensitivity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Planning Support Unit Ltd, Bristol.