I don’t pretend to understand everything about town planning. It’s a complex – perhaps unnecessarily complicated – activity, but it is designed to let people have a say in the future of their community.

Planning decisions are made normally by the local Council, but at the highest level they are taken by central government. In other words, planning decisions are the responsibility of people, or groups, that we elect. What a tremendous power!

Of course it’s never as simple as that. Planning decisions have to be legal (there should be no place for corruption) and they must take all views into account.

It’s never enough to say that we don’t like the idea of something, or to say, conversely, that it’s a great opportunity. The decision maker must give good and understandable reasons for making their judgement, and must show that all views have indeed been taken into account.

Pity, therefore, the elected Planning Committee of the town whose main employer gave them the stark choice.

Either you let us expand into the Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now National Landscape) next to our headquarters, or we will move, lock, stock and barrel, to a more receptive location – with our thousands of employees. (No, this was not, fortunately, High Wycombe!) The Planning Committee was massively lobbied, but ultimately had to make a decision. The struggle was ultimately Jobs vs Environment. It wasn’t good enough, as you can imagine, to just say “I like it” or “I don’t”.

One of the many things that the High Wycombe Society does, is to take the time to understand the big planning decisions that affect our town, and to respond to them intelligently. Sometimes the Society supports the idea, sometimes it objects. Sometimes it can understand the many sides of an argument, and can suggest a way around the problem, which might suit all parties.

The High Wycombe Society arose from a campaign in the 1960s to protect The Rye from development. It has preserved the historic Pann Mill (and opens it regularly to visitors); it campaigns and explains about the local environment and heritage; and it gets involved in planning decisions. You don’t have to be an expert to help the Society to participate in planning decision-making, but it helps if you can see and understand more than one side of the dilemma.

The Society’s strapline is "Caring about our town: past, present and future". Most readers care about their community, and it doesn’t take much to go the extra mile and support our work.

We have regular free talks about aspects of the town and its heritage, and we publish a magnificent and highly readable quarterly Newsletter. You can join the Society is online – go to http://www.highwycombesociety.org.uk/join. It’s not expensive, and getting involved is a pleasant and friendly way to give back to our town a little of what our town gives to us. We can’t possibly win all the battles ahead of us, but we try.

Peter Lerner is Chair of the High Wycombe Society Planning Group but the comments in this article are his own.