THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MIDDLE ENGLAND - THE POLITICS OF PARTICIPATION IN FORWARD PLANNING

In this paper we wish to examine how social actors represent the rural community and the rural environment in the context of the planning sy stem, specifically within the review process of a development plan. In particular, we focus on the role residential, environmental and ameni ty groups play in stabilizing certain features of rural society and en vironment and their reasons for seeking such stabilization. We explore their motivations for engaging in political activity of this kind, so me of the constraints they encounter along the way and how they attemp t to overcome these in order to shape their own local environments, an d, in the process, their community. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd