Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper sets out the response of the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), the UK Government’s Executive Agency responsible for the decision-making process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) in England, to the COVID-19 public health emergency in 2020. Adopting a reflecting-in-action methodology, the paper focuses on how, during a national ‘lockdown’, PINS ‘pivoted’ the technology of public participation from in-person to virtual to ensure that the publics and wider stakeholders could continue to contribute to decision-making, despite restrictions imposed by the public health emergency. It proffers an example of how the Government agency, through being adaptive and reflective, was able to continue the co-production participatory decision-making process for NSIPs. It also adds to the ongoing discussions regarding the evolution in digital/online/virtual engagement tools for future decision-making and emphasises these may need to be part of a ‘toolbox’ of approaches depending on the nature of the proposed project and the wishes of those publics and stakeholders being invited to engage and participate in decision-making.

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