It's admittedly appealing because it feels far closer to ordinary citizens having an influence, but I can't help feel like this is a failure on the part of the professionals whose responsibility the planning and implementation of this is.

Have we really gotten to the point where we can't trust public infrastructure to be properly implemented, and so the only solution is to take it into our own hands? What are the tax dollars paying for then?

> a failure on the part of the professionals whose responsibility the planning and implementation of this is.

Don't forget the short-sighted NIMBYism.

We kind of have reached that point. You can look at the cost overruns and public consultation before every new project as failures of the system to deliver what people want.