Abstract
One of the most important aspects of Infrastructure Planning is the public participation process. This was especially so in the consideration of major improvements to New Zealand's principal road, State Highway 1, north of Wellington. Because of the history of proposals for the road, the Wellington Regional Council in carrying out a new study, gave high priority to involving the people of the area at an early stage in the decision process. This resulted in an unexpected level of hostility, partly because there was no precedent for proposals being made public before they had been adopted. Nevertheless, the process is believed to have been the right one, but with lessons learned which have a general application (A).