ABSTRACT
This chapter examines struggles over the meanings of particular planning conventions such as 'objectives', over lay-members' participation in bureaucratic negotiations and over the delegation of their work to a consultant. In the case of the Harbourtown Industry Committee (HIC), there was little evidence that institutional constraints were enforced by the Shire of Harbourtown and Environs (SOHE). The committee was primarily established not to achieve a predetermined outcome, but to display 'good faith' to the disenfranchised stakeholders in Lumbervale. In HIC's case differences emerged not only between bureaucrats and lay-participants, but also between bureaucrats from within and outside of the practice of planning. A key concern of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Len, and Mayor, Cr Bob, at the meeting was that the new objectives should not contradict the intentions of the SOHE Council in establishing HIC. In sum, the 'strange' behaviour of participants provides evidence of 'cultural' difference, and of the potential barriers that this implies for participatory planning.
