Contents

Public Consultation and Decision-making in Local Government.

Executive Summary

Part One: Statutory and Related Legal Requirements

  • What Is Consultation?
  • Nature of the Obligation to Consult
  • Consultation in Local Government
  • The Special Consultative Procedure
  • Special Orders
  • Legitimate Expectation

Part Two: Application of Administrative Law

  • Principles of Administrative Law
  • “In Accordance With Law”
  • “Reasonably”
  • “Fairly”

Part Three: Specific Issues

  • Introduction
  • Procedural Obligation
  • Are There Any Mandatory Considerations?
  • Annual Plan
  • Form of Proposal
  • Who May Make Submissions?
  • To Whom are Submissions Made?
  • Effect of Submissions
  • Role of Council Officers
  • Alterations to Proposals
  • Failure to Use the Procedure
  • Irregularities in Complying with the Procedural Requirements
  • Timing – Special Consultative Procedure
  • Timing – Special Orders

Part Four: Problems and Current Trends

  • Introduction
  • Perceived Problems with the Special Consultative Procedure
  • Current Trends

Part Five: Conclusions and Recommendations

  • Conclusions
  • Recommendations

Appendices

Note: Where we draw on judicial statements for material in this report, we identify the case by quoting the name of the first party (sometimes abbreviated) followed by a number in parentheses. This number corresponds to the number of the case as listed in the bibliography in Appendix D on pages 64-65.

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