Informality and Engagement in Community-Led Planning, Placemaking and Politics

In this chapter, we explore the informal relational ties that were essential in building one of Frome’s key environmental organisations that have championed relocalised development alternatives in the context of the wider Transition and New Economy movement, Sustainable Frome. We ascertain how these ties played out in more formal governance of engaging in the neighbourhood plan but also the role of informal and affective ties in influencing the structures of community participation and wider issues of apathy and civic engagement at a broader scale. As before, we start by highlighting the key takeaways from an analysis of placemaking in Frome and unpacking what this means—for the town, the issue of ownership and inclusion, and scaling up participatory innovations.