Emergent practices of localism: the role and response of local planning authorities to neighbourhood planning in England

Abstract

This paper examines the practices of localism that are emerging in local planning authorities’ (LPAs) responses to neighbourhood planning (NP) in England. It argues that a lack of coherence within the localism agenda has enabled LPAs to rearticulate and resignify key concepts, with three discernible practices of localism and responses to NP emerging: the deflective, the reactive and the integrative. The LPAs have a critical role within the process and employ a range of technologies of government to govern the conduct of groups shaped largely around the role afforded to NP within their local plan.