Evaluating public participation and fairness in the public local inquiry

Abstract The public local inquiry in the planning system is expected to facilitate public participation in environmental decision-making. Public participation in environmental decision-making has the aim of enhancing environmental democracy, making better decisions and improving environmental protection. This paper argues that, despite the long history of participation in the planning system, public local inquiries in their present state are limited in their capacity to facilitate public participation. It contends that the public participation responsibilities of the public local inquiry are hampered by its adversarial procedures. Planning scholars have argued that the formal, adversarial nature of the public local inquiry makes it difficult for people with little legal experience to participate, thus acting as an obstacle to public participation and good decision-making. Drawing on inquiry case law and scholarship, this paper investigates the multiple purposes of the inquiry and how tensions between these purposes have been interpreted by the courts. In exploring the reasons for these conflicts, the paper provides an opportunity to refine the system to facilitate public participation and to ensure that the public local inquiry is fair to its participants and serves the democratic purpose it is expected to meet.