Public involvement is developing in recognition as an important step in attaining acceptance in local communities for developments, and it can produce important benefits for the majority of parties involved, including the proponents and the community (University of Manchester EIA, 2003).
Many authors have discussed techniques to include when designing and implementing a public involvement programme (Rowe & Frewer, 2000; Shepard & Bowler, 1997 Morgan, 1998; UNEP, 2002), however, evaluative measures which assess the success of consultation programmes have not been thoroughly investigated.
Barriers exist in society which disallow particular groups to effectively contribute to public participation programmes (Diduck & Sinclair, 2002). Specific information regarding how individual 'hard to reach' groups should be involved in consultation is not provided and suggestions to ameliorate issues with involving such groups is generic in nature.
This research focuses on Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ), a group who have been identified as 'hard to reach', largely through a case study of a proposed landfill in the Kate Valley area in North Canterbury. A combination of two techniques were used to assess RWNZ's involvement in the consultation programme, including an assessment of historical documents and associated reports, and interviews carried out with seven RWNZ members.
Results indicated that RWNZ perceived that they were not adequately involved in the Kate Valley consultation programme. Several personal and external barriers were identified by the RWNZ interview participants that impeded their participation in the Kate Valley consultation programme.
This research identifies important features that a consultation proponent can employ to effectively involve RWNZ in a public participation programme in the future. A significant finding, largely unrelated to the Kate Valley consultation programme regards the apparent lack of knowledge that the general public have about consultation processes and their individual rights and opportunities.[Show full abstract]
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