Environmental Defenders Office welcomes the opportunity to comment on the NSW Government’s Draft Community Participation Plan and accompanying Discussion Paper. Meaningful community participation is a key tenet of environmental decision making. Environment and planning laws impact people and the places where they live, work and connect, and the natural assets they rely on. Community participation is important because it improves the quality and integrity of decision making by ensuring that local knowledge, scientific expertise and diverse community perspectives are considered alongside other interests, including economic interests. A new state-wide Community Participation Plan must support effective and meaningful engagement, rather than embed low standards, remove participation opportunities and create ‘tick-the-box’ processes that do not facilitate communities to influence outcomes. EDO’s key concerns with the draft Plan are set out in our submission.