Some 82 percent of councillors believe that planning consultations only capture the opinions of the ‘most vocal people’ and 75 percent believe the ‘silent majority’ is overlooked in planning decisions, according to a recent survey.
The research, for planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield Partners and communications consultancy Forty Shillings, carried out by pollsters Com Res, concluded that the silent majority are those who are ‘likely to benefit from new homes or use the facilities provided by development, but are less likely to participate in the planning process than the more vocal minority, who can object vigorously to proposals’.
NLP director Matthew Spry said: ‘Approaches to engagement must be structured to capture the views of a broader and more representative sample of local residents than those who typically participate in planning.’
The polling involved an online survey of 416 local government councillors.
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