Abstract
In 1971 an inner-city suburb of Sydney experienced a change of control following local government elections. Leichhardt, with a population of about seventy-one thousand, became one of the first local authorities in the world to have an elected council committed to the practice of citizen participation. Council meetings were thrown open to the general public who could speak, though not vote; planning for the area involved residents and neighbourhood groups stimulated by open meetings of the planning committee and by public planning discussions in each locality. Now, nearly three years later, a plan for Leichhardt has been produced and it is possible to take stock of a remarkable exercise in public participation. Despite the differences in the circumstances of local government between Australia and Britain, the Leichhardt experience, both its strengths and its weaknesses, can contribute to the discussions now taking place on the role of public participation in local planning in Britain. As the lowest of the three tiers of government in a federal system, local authorities have a different status in Australia from that enjoyed by their counterparts in Britain. In addition, the system of local government is different in each of the six states of the Australian Commonwealth, although there are basic similarities.
Published Version
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