Community Participation and Rural Policy: Representativeness in the Development of Millennium Greens

An increasing interest in community participation (CP) in many areas of policy has grown as governments move from an executive to an enabling role. The development of CP in rural policy in the UK is charted and can be seen now as a requirement rather than an opportunity in policy implementation. A number of the potential advantages and shortcomings of CP in practice are considered and notions of representativeness and public accountability are singled out for empirical consideration in the context of millennium greens. Community applicants for such greens are found to range in their representativeness from those who have the community interest at their core to those who wish to pursue singular strategies, for example in opposing development. Some form of state sanction and full information are required to ensure that CP programmes serve the community interest.