Suchergebnisse

PLANNING IS CONSIDERED FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF LOCAL DEMOCRACY. DEMOCRACY IS SEEN AS INVOLVING INFLUENCE AND PARTICIPATION BY THOSE EFFECTED BY THE DECISIONS. BY MEANS OF A CONCEPTUAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE TERM INFLUENCE IT IS SHOWN THAT FROM A NORMATIVE POINT OF VIEW ALL TYPES OF INFLUENCE ARE NOT DESIRABLE. THE ARTICLE ENDS WITH A PROGRAM FOR ANALYZING THE RELATION OF INFLUENCE AND PARTICIPATION.

LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM PLAY A CONSIDERABLE ROLE IN THE CONTROL OF POLLUTION FROM NEW SOURCES. A NUMBER OF INDICATORS OF THE OUTCOME OF A PLANNING DECISION RELATING TO A NEW OR MODIFIED POLLUTION SOURCE ARE DERIVED AND TESTED USING FIVE CASE HISTORIES. IN THESE CASES, CORPORATE INTERESTS TENDED TO PREVAIL OVER ENVIRONMENTAL INTERESTS, CONFLICTS BETWEEN CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT WERE COMMON, POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITIES ALWAYS PERMITTED DISCHARGES, PLANNING AUTHORITIES USUALLY ACTED AS MEDIATORS, SEEKING TO GRANT PERMISSION WITH MITIGATION MEASURES, AND OBJECTORS SOMETIMES PREVENTED THE LOCATION OF A NEW POLLUTION SOURCE:

The aim of this article is to assess the political conditions for an efficient local planning, giving first an outline of the current planning system in Norway and turning then to the relationship between planning and local politics. The perceptions and attitudes of local concillors in relation to planning are presented on the basis of data from a questionnaire survey, which included about 400 local councillors in 16 Norwegian municipalities. The data suggest that a substantial majority of the councillors regard planning as an important policy-making activity. It is argued that in spite of the lack of success of local planning in terms of approved plans, it has been successful in encouraging local political debate and thereby contributed to the general decision-making process.