Abstract
This thesis examines the organisation and activities of local environmental groups. Environmental groups are defined broadly to include all local voluntary groups which devote a considerable proportion of their time to issues and activities concerning the physical environment. Chapters 1 to 3 provide a background to the study of local environmental groups. They describe the history and present status of the British national environmental movement and the literature on environmental groups (Chapter 1); British environmental legislation (Chapter 2); and the environmental and social background of the two areas chosen for intensive practical research, West Surrey and Newham (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 describes the organisation and activities of local environmental groups in West Surrey, including their numbers, size, aims, the issues which concern them and the tactics they adopt to deal with these issues, their relations with each other and with local authorities, and their achievements. Chapter 5 describes local environmental groups in Newham under similar categories, contrasting them with West Surrey groups. Chapter 6 compares and contrasts the data from the intensive studies in Newham and West Surrey with data available in the literature on local environmental groups elsewhere in Britain. It identifies patterns of similarity and difference, and advances possible explanations for these patterns. Chapter 7 examines the patterns of activity identified in Chapter 6, along with more detailed data from the intensive studies, to assess the extent to which a local environmental movement can be said to exist in Britain. It is concluded that the movement is not cohesive, and has changed little in response to the new ideas on the environment which have developed at national level since the 1960's. The Appendix describes the method of data collection and analysis in West Surrey, which included a questionnaire and computer-based statistical analysis.