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With so much regulatory complexity, there is a severe danger of consultation fatigue! Many pressure groups have full time ‘consultees’ - experts in dealing with EuroBabble and government gobbledygook. The trouble is they have no time to maintain contacts with their own people!
Consultation is also fashionable. New consultation Forums are springing up everywhere. The fact that consultation has been going on for a long time seems to be overlooked. We are all members of clubs, many with national associations (either privately, such as yacht clubs and the RYA, or in business, such as the British Marine Federation that represents the small boat industry). Many of us are also members of environmental bodies such as the Wildlife Trusts, Solent Protection Society, and perhaps national or international bodies such as RSPB, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth or Worldwide Fund for Nature. The trouble with such bodies is that they have broad agendas that may not suit local circumstances. But if you dig deep enough, you will find that harbour authorities, local councils, county councils, and bodies such as the Environment Agency already have effective consultation mechanisms, so why not make use of them rather than invent new ones?
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