Welcome

If you’re trying to make sense of a planning decision, this community looks at how decisions are made — we focus on process, evidence, and how decisions are reached in practice. Our aim is to help you understand the process properly, and to raise concerns in an informed, procedurally sound way.

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How to Raise a Planning Complaint the Right Way

In Complaints, Appeals & Next Steps · Updated 2026-01-27 08:22:56 · Last by Lee Miller

I’ve written a post explaining how you can raise a planning complaint the right way, including when FOI matters and why infrastructure deferral is important.You can read it here:

PDF Evidence OCR

In PGAT Plugins · Updated 2026-01-23 13:31:01 · Last by Lee Miller

What it DoesIt takes image-based PDFs (scans, photocopies, council uploads, consultant reports) and converts them into searchable, analysable text that PGAT and your workflow

Committee Evidence Capture

In PGAT Plugins · Updated 2026-01-21 09:25:11 · Last by Lee Miller

Committee Evidence Capture is a research plugin designed to convert publicly available committee recordings into usable evidential material.Planning committee meetings often contain decision-cr

A Structural Problem in Plan-Led Decision-Making

In Planning Articles · Updated 2026-01-21 08:06:51 · Last by Lee Miller

A longer explanation of the research and conclusions behind this forum.A Structural Problem in Plan-Led Decision-Making

Describing what happened (so others can understand your question)

In Announcements / Read First · Updated 2026-01-20 20:29:01 · Last by Lee Miller

This forum works best when posts describe what happened, in a way that others can follow and learn from later.Many questions are difficult to answer not because they are unimportant, but becaus

Traffic Lights Everywhere: How Infrastructure-Free Planning Creates Congestion, Pollution, and Frustration

In General Discussion · Updated 2026-01-20 18:56:13 · Last by Lee Miller

One of the clearest signs that a planning system is failing isn’t a controversial application or a glossy masterplan.It’s traffic lights.Not one or two, but traffic lights every few hundred metres. Stop–

Water Infrastructure Capacity and Statutory Consultees

In Planning Articles · Updated 2026-01-19 04:30:25 · Last by Lee Miller

The recurring problemAcross major housing applications, a consistent pattern is emerging:Water companies confirm insufficient wastewater or potable water capacityThey obj

Why I’m here and your Profile

In Announcements / Read First · Updated 2026-01-18 01:36:38 · Last by Lee Miller

You may notice that some members have a small “Why I’m here” box shown beneath their posts.You may also see a small grey label beneath the heading (for example, “Planning co

General Discussion

In General Discussion · Updated 2026-01-18 00:27:12 · Last by Lee Miller

This category is for planning-related questions or topics that do not clearly fit within the other sections.It can be used for:broad or exploratory questionsearly or undeveloped issues

Examples & Case Discussions

In Examples & Case Discussions · Updated 2026-01-18 00:21:12 · Last by Lee Miller

This category brings together anonymised or hypothetical case discussions.It is used to:explore how similar decision issues arise across different authoritiescompare how evidence, reasoning

Complaints, Appeals & Next Steps

In Complaints, Appeals & Next Steps · Updated 2026-01-18 00:20:01 · Last by Lee Miller

This category explores procedural options that may exist after a planning decision has been issued.It is used to discuss:internal complaints and governance routesplanning appeals and review

How Planning Decisions Are Made

In How Planning Decisions Are Made · Updated 2026-01-18 00:18:35 · Last by Lee Miller

This category is for understanding planning process rather than individual cases.It covers how planning decisions are expected to be reached, including:the respective roles of officers and elected m

Refusals, Conditions & Committees

In Refusals, Conditions & Committees · Updated 2026-01-17 23:53:38 · Last by Lee Miller

This category focuses on how planning decisions are expressed and justified.It is used to examine:refusal reasons and how they are framedconditions relied upon to address unresolved matters

Your Planning Experience

In Your Planning Experience · Updated 2026-01-17 23:10:03 · Last by Lee Miller

This category is for first-hand accounts of planning applications and decisions.If you have been involved in a planning application — as an applicant, agent, consultant, objector, councillor, or interested part

Read this before posting

In Announcements / Read First · Updated 2026-01-17 06:18:05 · Last by Lee Miller

If you’ve had a planning decision go against you, it’s normal to feel angry, confused, or treated unfairly. This forum exists to give you space to talk that through, even vent about it initially, because a

About reports and paid analysis

In Announcements / Read First · Updated 2026-01-01 09:57:12 · Last by Lee Miller

This forum exists to discuss planning decisions, process, and governance.Posting, replying, and discussing cases here is free.You do not need to pay to ask questions, de

Categories

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Announcements / Read First

This category explains how to post, what information is helpful to include, and how discussions are kept factual, constructive, and focused.

Your Planning Experience

Start here. Tell us what happened. This category is for first-hand accounts of planning applications and decisions.

Refusals, Conditions & Committees

This category focuses on how planning decisions are expressed and justified.

How Planning Decisions Are Made

This category is for understanding planning process rather than individual cases.

Complaints, Appeals & Next Steps

This category explores procedural options that may exist after a planning decision has been issued.

Examples & Case Discussions

This category brings together anonymized or hypothetical case discussions.

Communicating in the Planning Process

Discussion about how to communicate clearly, constructively, and effectively within the planning process.

General Discussion

This category is for planning-related questions or topics that do not clearly fit within the other sections.

Planning Articles

Concise, evidence-led analysis of planning decisions, focusing on decision-stage evidence, procedural fairness, and governance risk.

Research plugins designed to complement the Planning Governance Assessment Tool, reducing the time required to locate and process evidence.

Use this category for help with the core PGAT software and all official PGAT plugins, including setup, usage, troubleshooting, and updates.

Start a new topic

Click a category (above) first, then hit “New topic”.