How We Use AI Responsibly

Planning Defender uses AI to read a planning application and help you turn your concerns into a clear, well-structured objection. Councils and planners have rightly raised concerns about AI-written objections that invent case law or repeat irrelevant arguments. These are the rules our service is built around.

Only material planning considerations

Grounds are suggested from a curated list of material planning considerations, such as loss of light, overlooking, design and highway safety. Issues a council can’t take into account, like effects on property values or loss of a private view, are excluded. Your objection is about planning, not volume.

No invented facts, references or case law

The AI is instructed to use only what is in the application material you provide and what you tell us. It must never invent an address, application reference, deadline, decision, appeal reference, policy reference or document. Policies are cited by the name of the document, not by paragraph numbers that change between revisions. If something can’t be supported, it is left out of the letter.

Gaps are flagged to you, not hidden

Where a point would be stronger with more detail, such as a measurement, a photo or a local policy reference, you get a separate list of suggestions. Those are shown only to you, never sent to the council, so you can decide what to add.

You stay in control

We never submit anything on your behalf. You review the summary of the application before you pay, choose which grounds to include, add your own words and evidence, and can edit the letter before you send it yourself. Planning Defender is a drafting aid, not legal or professional advice; see our disclaimer.

Your documents and data

Documents and photos you upload are used only to prepare your objection and are deleted from our storage as soon as the AI has read them. We keep your objection details only for as long as it takes to deliver your pack. Our privacy policy sets out the exact retention periods.

One person, one objection

Each pack is written for one resident, about how a proposal affects them. We don’t offer bulk letter generation, and we don’t encourage copies of the same letter being sent under different names. Councils give more weight to specific, individual objections.