Re: crowd-sourcing policy development - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Is Wikipedia not already something like this? What is of interest for such platform in relationship to local planning strategy is that people spending most of the day in a locale but having no say because non-residents will then be able to have a say. Somehow there is very few policies that is just local. Also, local planning strategies have always multiple spatial scales. Place shaping policies are interdependant - it is not about just chosing between pair but how one policy choice has consequential impact on many other policies. Having said this, then I would agree that this is not Wikipedia - this is a completely new platform.

Reckon its a good way to go, as an alternative or complimentary way of getting people involved in decisions. First saw this kind of thing happening in another environment much closer to my heart: http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/ Fans pick the team and decide who to buy etc. - 'Welcome to a magnificently chaotic pure democracy' (The Guardian). If harnessed correctly, and a 'buzz' created, this could be powerful. Like anything, you won't know how it will work until you try it - I just hope it isn't another good idea that goes nowhere because people start getting too worried about the detail. The £1m should encourage someone to have a go. Ebbsfleet, the team involved above, won the FA Trophy in their first season under this kind of ownership.