Influence of Commune Inhabitants on the Planning Procedure

Abstract

According to the Act on Spatial Planning and Development, it is the duty of local authorities to provide opportunities for public participation in the planning procedure. The article describes legal instruments enabling active participation of citizens in the process of creating the two most important municipal planning acts, which are a local spatial development plan and a study. Unfortunately, the current legal regulations governing the principles of public participation in the planning procedure are not without flaws. Very often they create only an appearance of proper public participation and do not provide adequate protection of the rights of interested parties. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce such amendments to the Act on Spatial Planning and Development which will enable more effective cooperation between the municipality authorities and the local community by providing the citizens with more effective legal instruments which will allow them to participate in making decisions on the content of the municipality’s spatial planning acts.