I'm reminded of many 'public consultations' e.g. Secretly, the staff in closed council office meetings spent months deciding to change use of a community centre. Every detail was settled, right down to the time the removal vans would arrive, next morning.
But a sudden 'public meeting' had to be announced, via a note stuck on the community centre door, in the evening, to 'comply' with the need to tick the box stating the public were 'consulted' (!!)
(Old hands in such circumstances offer a 'choice', e.g. suggesting that, because the front door will be painted blue, the public can vote to show if they want dark blue or light )