Stokes, EvelynBettison, DavidDixon, Jennifer2026-05-282026-05-281990https://hdl.handle.net/10289/18305Planning practice involves a complex set of social activities, engaged in by individuals acting in various local and national institutional contexts. These actions are constrained by legislation and policies of central and local government, institutional arrangements, the positions held by officials and the sets of social and spatial constructs held by the participants, both lay and professional. This thesis elucidates the phenomenon of planning in respect of the search for a site for a coal-fired power station. The search for a site focussed on the Waikato, a region in the North Island, New Zealand. It was conducted by central government officials from the New Zealand Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy over a six year period from 1979 to 1985. The proposed Waikato Thermal Power Station was part of a national development strategy formulated by the National Party Government to exploit indigenous energy resources as a means of restructuring New Zealand’s economic base. The Waikato coal fields became a major focus for the Government’s ‘Think-Big’ programme. Proposals to expand and develop several underground and opencast coal fields and construct another coal-fired power station were imposed on the social organisation of the region without prior consultation. Local and regional authorities with their various planning instruments were expected to co-operate in the implementation of this national plan. In order to facilitate planning for the projects, special ad hoc committee arrangements were put in place by central government officials to liaise with local authority politicians and staff. The thesis is developed through a reflexive enquiry whereby the phenomenon of planning is shown to be constituted and reconstituted by the participants in the planning process. Thus the enquiry reveals the intentions, interactions and outcomes which comprise the realities of planning in this case study. This enquiry is presented in three Parts. Following the introduction, Part One sets the methodogical, legal and organisational context. Part Two presents the fieldwork investigations. Part Three elucidates the phenomenon of planning and reflects on the research experiences of the writer. The phenomena revealed elucidate the nature of planning practice. Methods of investigation comprised the conduct of in-depth, unstructured interviews with lay and professional participants; the analysis of interview transcripts; searching of central and local government files; and examining minutes of committee meetings as well as government reports and legislation. A hermeneutic analysis of these texts was used to elucidate the meanings and contexts of participants acting as individuals, acting collectively in informal and formal situations, and in various institutional contexts. Analysis revealed that meanings and contexts of planning constructs were constantly reformulated by participants as investigations proceeded over the six year period. Reformulation of these constructs occurred in three on-going, interdependent processes; those of people involved practically in selection of a site, people engaged in planning as a phenomenon, and public involvement in site selection and its anticipated consequences. Individual actions were influenced by past experiences, planning constructs and institutional contexts. These understandings explained the ineffectiveness of the construct of regional planning as an instrument in facilitating the implementation of the project. The thesis concludes with a statement of theoretical understanding that has evolved from the research experience.enAll items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.Thesis