If people don’t feel heard, what happens next? 

CRJ’s Advisory Panel member Amanda Coleman highlights how a lack of understanding around planning systems fuels frustration, distrust and democratic disconnect in her latest blog for Under Pressure.


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I have been going through some personal challenges linked to proposed plans for development near my home. It has put me into full crisis response mode. Get things in place, start the response, be open, and share information, and the result has been people coming together. 

But it has become really clear that many people don’t know and understand how to take part in democratic processes such as objecting to planning applications. This is a serious concern in a world where there is growing distrust of authority and polarisation within society. 

A cynic may say that in many cases it helps politicians and businesses that people don’t understand. In that way, they can’t complain; they will miss deadlines; and there will be no delays. In the long term, there is a growing number of people who don’t get involved, are not likely to vote and are becoming frustrated.

It is only the years covering planning meetings as a reporter that have helped me with some of the recent issues. I was interested to hear from Peter Osborne, a fellow PR professional, who has written about his experiences addressing a local planning issue. 

We spoke this week and found some remarkable similarities in the experiences we are having. One of the biggest issues is a lack of understanding and engagement with the process. Some people adopt a fatalistic approach (‘well, it is going to happen anyway’). Some don’t know what to say, where to say it and how to share their views. And some try to help people navigate the challenging situation.

If people feel so disconnected from processes or have the view that they will not be listened to, the effect is significant. Those with money and power will continue to operate with immunity; frustrations will grow, and who knows where this leads? It is easy to point fingers at other countries and believe they are authoritarian or undemocratic, but we can find similar problems if we just scrape the surface closer to home.

My approach is to look at what we can do to highlight the problems and to shine a light on bad behaviour. The other option – well, at the moment I don’t think there is one.

Read the original article here.