Planning and Public Empowerment: Third Party Rights in Development Control

Public protest surrounding development control decision-making is an increasingly significant aspect of the planning process and raises important questions about future legitimacy of the system. This article seeks to address the central question of what role the third party rights might play in defining the relationship of the public to the planning process. The discussion explores the nature of rights and their role in the UK's planning system before examining the views of key players in the development process to both the motivation for rights and their reactions to the prospect of their introduction. The article concludes by noting the compelling case for equal rights in planning and the apparent failure of recent government policy reviews to acknowledge their importance.