ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers the housebuilders, and examines the functioning of local planning authorities (LPAs) in Central Berkshire paying particular attention to the position of elected members. It looks in detail at the role of parish councils in local planning affairs, organizations positioned between the formal institutionalism of LPAs and the informality of social movements. The book also considers the importance of residents’ groups in planning matters, and the main agents concerned with the production, management and consumption of the one element of the built environment. The state is lobbied by builder-developers and by various community groups; it seeks to facilitate the operation of the producers of the built environment while being relatively open to the articulated voice of the consumers of the built environment.
