About PGAT
The Planning Governance Assessment Tool (PGAT) is a transparency and governance platform built to analyse planning applications, identify evidence gaps, highlight policy conflicts, and improve decision-making across Colchester and wider North Essex.
- Scrapes planning applications and downloads key documents
- Identifies missing consultee responses and evidence gaps
- Applies Local Plan, NPPF, and infrastructure policy tests
- Scores governance risk and procedural performance
- Generates AI-assisted summaries and objection drafts
- Builds evidence bundles for accountability and review
Why PGAT Exists
Planning decisions rely on clear evidence, complete consultee responses, and proper application of the Local Plan and NPPF. In practice, this doesn’t always happen. PGAT was created to bring structure, consistency and transparency to the process, enabling councils and residents to identify procedural failings early and improve decision quality.
How It Works
PGAT ingests data automatically from planning portals, processes it using a structured rules engine, and cross-checks applications against Local Plan policy, infrastructure capacity, consultee requirements and case-law aligned governance principles.
PGAT is built to make the planning system fairer, clearer and impossible to “wing it.”
Here’s what happens when you use it:
1. You type in a planning application number
That’s all you have to do.
PGAT instantly goes out and collects everything important about that application — the documents, consultee reports, objections, policies, maps, and background evidence.
2. It sorts the information automatically
Instead of 200+ chaotic PDFs, PGAT organises everything into clean sections:
- Infrastructure
- Highways
- Drainage & Flooding (LLFA)
- Water Capacity (Anglian Water, Environment Agency)
- Ecology & Biodiversity Net Gain
- Policy Compliance (NPPF, Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plan)
- Procedural / Governance issues
Everything is labelled, searchable, and presented clearly.
3. It highlights what’s missing or wrong
PGAT doesn’t just collect information — it flags:
- missing evidence
- contradictions
- procedural errors
- outdated assessments
- ignored consultee objections
- officer advice that doesn’t match the documents
This is where PGAT becomes powerful: it shows exactly where a decision is weak.
4. It generates an “Evidence Pack” automatically
At the push of a button, PGAT produces:
- a structured report
- screenshots
- quoted policy references
- timelines
- a clean summary of every flaw
This can be used by:
- residents
- councillors
- parish councils
- planning officers
- legal teams
- developers who want proper governance
Everyone gets the same clear picture.
5. It gives the council tools to fix their own process
PGAT is not an anti-council tool — it’s a governance improvement tool.
The council benefits because:
- they can see gaps before committee
- they can avoid procedural risks
- they get consistency across every application
- it reduces complaints and appeals
- it ensures lawful, evidence-based decisions
6. It allows residents to object properly
If residents want to object, PGAT can generate:
- a clean objection
- focused on evidence
- tied to policy
- written in plain English
- fully referenced
Not 20 angry comments — 200 strong evidence-based objections.
7. It creates transparency
Everything becomes visible:
- what evidence existed
- what was used
- what was ignored
- what was missing
- what the Local Plan says
- what the NPPF requires
This is why PGAT is disruptive — it removes the “fog” around planning.
8. The whole process becomes faster, cleaner and fairer
When complete, PGAT delivers:
- better applications
- better decisions
- fewer complaints
- stronger governance
- higher public trust
It raises the standard for everyone.
AI-Powered Planning Analysis
PGAT uses built-in AI to read, organise and check planning information automatically.
It doesn’t replace human judgement — it simply removes the heavy lifting and makes the planning process clearer, faster and fairer for everyone.
1. Enter a planning application number
That’s all you need to do.
PGAT’s AI immediately gathers the full picture of the planning application — documents, consultee responses, officer reports, policies, maps and background evidence.
2. AI reads and summarises every document
Instead of hundreds of PDFs, PGAT presents everything in clean, simple sections.
AI highlights the key lines, extracts important statements and shows exactly what each document says without the noise.
3. AI checks the application against policy
The system compares the evidence with:
- Local Plan policies
- NPPF requirements
- consultee recommendations
- known local constraints (infrastructure, water, highways, etc.)
If something doesn’t fit — or is missing entirely — PGAT shows it clearly.
4. AI identifies procedural and governance gaps
PGAT flags issues such as:
- consultee objections not shown in reports
- assessments required by policy but not supplied
- contradictions between officer summaries and consultee statements
- evidence gaps ahead of decision-making
These are the areas where risk normally hides.
PGAT brings them into the open.
5. Instantly generate a structured Evidence Pack
With one click, PGAT produces a full, organised report containing:
- clear summaries
- key evidence
- missing items
- relevant policy quotes
- timelines
- highlighted risks
- recommendations
A professional consultant’s analysis — created in seconds.
8. AI makes the planning process clearer, faster and fairer
PGAT’s built-in AI ensures:
- better decisions
- stronger transparency
- fewer disputes
- more trust
- a planning process driven by evidence, not guesswork
PGAT doesn’t change the rules — it makes sure they’re followed.
Explore PGAT
PGAT allows users to examine planning applications through a structured evidence and governance lens. While the platform was originally developed to support transparency and accountability, it is also a powerful analytical tool for residents, parish councils, community groups and professionals.
- Enter a planning reference and instantly view the structured dataset
- Review scraped portal information and recorded documents
- Check evidence completeness and consultee status
- See governance and procedural risk indicators
- Identify policy conflicts using the integrated Local Plan library
- Generate structured summaries of key issues
Access to PGAT is restricted to authorised users. The platform operates behind a secure password system to ensure that all assessments, records and governance analyses remain protected and available only to approved stakeholders.
If you would like to explore PGAT in more detail, please use the form below to request a limited time demonstration.
For information on access levels and pricing options, please visit the PGAT Pricing page. This outlines the available plans for community groups, parish councils, professional users and other organisations who may wish to utilise PGAT as part of their planning or governance work.