I have been a planner for a long while, when people turn on a project then that equals delays. The Planning Dept. of the council will have to consider all objections, this is a very time consuming process. Best avoided by the dissemination of information. People, in my experience, tend to be very suspicious animals, if you don't tell them something they start to think you are hiding stuff, they then believe you are trying to take advantage and they start looking for the reason. People can find justification for most things if they aren't made aware of all the implications of a project.
In my time I have seen all sorts of issues being put forward to stymie development, bats, bashers, lesser spotted newt, perceived fear, all sorts. Trust is the answer to these issues, get information out and propose solutions. While it is a saying which I hate, people need to take ownership of a project lime this and identify with it, not against it.