PGAT as a learning process
When I built PGAT, it was never intended to be a tool people jump straight into.
Planning governance is not intuitive. Most people encounter it only after something has gone wrong — a refusal, an approval they disagree with, or a committee decision that doesn’t feel right. The natural instinct at that point is to argue the outcome. In governance terms, that instinct is usually misplaced.
PGAT exists to correct that instinct. It is designed as a learning process first, and a software system second.
Why the foundations are free
Before anyone uses the software, they need a grounding in how planning decisions actually work: legally, procedurally, and in governance terms. That foundation is provided free of charge, deliberately and in full.
This is not a teaser and not a cut-down version of the Pro material. It is the same conceptual framework the software itself relies on.
Most failed objections, complaints, and challenges fail long before planning merits are considered. They fail because the person raising them does not understand when a decision occurs, what evidence is decision-capable, or who is responsible at each stage.
What PGAT is trying to teach
PGAT’s core insight is simple:
Most bad planning decisions are procedural failures, not bad opinions.
If planning is approached as argument or persuasion rather than governance, software will not help. It will simply produce more information without the ability to use it correctly.
Free user access: the minimum grounding
Free users are given access to the core PGAT learning material. These are not casual articles. They form a structured baseline for understanding how lawful planning decisions are made, recorded, and scrutinised.
Quick Links (Basics)
- What is PGAT?
- Decision Making
- Decision Evidence
- Decision Roles
- Procedural Fairness
- Decision Failures
- Recording Decisions
- Use of Conditions
- Governance Risk
- Analysis to Risk
- Critical Failures
- Complaints as Process
Until these concepts are understood, analysis has no reliable meaning.
The role of the forums
Free users can also join the PGAT forums. This is not an add-on feature. It is part of the learning process.
Before subscribing, users are expected to demonstrate an understanding of planning governance through how they ask questions. Not by being correct, but by framing issues procedurally rather than emotionally or adversarially.
In governance work, the framing of a question often determines whether it can be answered at all.
Why PGAT Pro is limited and expensive
PGAT Pro is not for most people.
It is expensive, limited to a small number of analyses, and intentionally constrained. This is not a marketing decision. Each analysis produces structured findings with real governance implications — findings that may inform complaints, escalation, or professional advice.
PGAT Pro is appropriate only once sufficient understanding has been demonstrated. Knowledge is expected first; the tool comes second.
Knowledge before tools
PGAT is not a shortcut and not an answer engine.
It is a competence-first system. The free material exists so that when the software is used, it is used properly — by people who understand the process they are engaging with.