The Use Case PGAT Is Designed to Support
Planning applications and associated decision records can involve substantial volumes of documentation, extended timelines, and multiple stages of assessment. For professionals reviewing such material, understanding how procedural steps, evidence references, and decision sequencing are recorded within the application record is often a necessary precursor to further professional analysis.
PGAT is designed to support this aspect of review by providing a structured way to examine governance and procedure-related elements of a planning application record. It is not intended to assess planning merits or replace professional judgment.
The professional context
In practice, procedural and governance review frequently requires professionals to locate and reconcile material spread across numerous documents, track how evidence is referenced and relied upon over time, identify deferral events and the stated basis for them, and understand the sequencing of reports, updates, and decisions.
This work is typically preparatory in nature, yet time-consuming, particularly where documentation has accumulated incrementally or where material is referenced across multiple stages of an application.
The specific use case PGAT addresses
PGAT is designed to assist professionals by collating application material into a structured, reviewable record, identifying references to decision-critical evidence within reports and supporting documents, recording procedural sequencing and deferral events as they appear in the documented record, highlighting where material is referenced but not readily accessible within the evidence set, and producing structured outputs that can be reviewed, interrogated, or set aside as appropriate.
The emphasis is on visibility and structure, not interpretation or conclusion.
How PGAT is typically used
PGAT is typically used to support initial triage of complex or document-heavy application records, scoping areas that may warrant closer professional attention, consistency of review across multiple applications or cases, and internal discussion or instruction based on a shared procedural overview. Use of PGAT does not imply reliance on its outputs, nor does it displace professional responsibility for interpretation.
What PGAT is not designed to do
For clarity, PGAT is not designed to assess planning balance or merits, determine compliance or non-compliance with policy or law, reach conclusions as to procedural propriety or impropriety, or replace professional judgment or legal analysis. Its role is confined to assisting review of the documented record as presented.
Position within professional workflows
PGAT is intended to operate as a supporting tool within established legal and planning workflows. It provides structure and visibility over material that would otherwise require manual collation, allowing professionals to focus their attention where it is most needed. Responsibility for interpretation, reliance, and use of outputs remains with the professional user at all times.