Editorial Standards & Research Methodology
How we prepare the planning information on this website, what our checks cover and where their limits lie.
Process description reviewed:
Purpose and publishing responsibility
Our planning information hub helps homeowners and neighbours in England understand planning concerns, find official information and prepare their own comments. The owner of NeighbourObjection.co.uk is responsible for publication decisions. Publication approval is not a claim that a qualified planner or lawyer checked every source or interpretation. Our About page explains the document-preparation service.
How we research our content
ChatGPT is used for research assistance, drafting substantial text, plain-English explanations, comparing material and checking proposed wording. It can help organise sources and identify inconsistencies, but it can also produce errors, unsupported references or misleading summaries. Its output is not an authoritative source.
Some recorded checks use a separate ChatGPT review; others are a further pass in the same session. Neither is independent human or professional review. Checking an AI response against another AI response does not replace checking the underlying source. Review descriptions and access limits matter more than the label “checked”.
Official sources and the scope of checks
Our research records draw on GOV.UK, legislation, official council material, planning-policy documents and Planning Inspectorate decisions. Source registers for reviewed material record details such as the authority, document title or reference, source link, date, relevant section or page, and whether policy is adopted, draft or superseded. These details help distinguish what a source says from our explanation of it.
The coverage varies by resource. A source check can support a specific passage without establishing that every statement on a page has been independently verified. Records also identify blocked access, unresolved wording and material held from publication. A failed research download does not establish that a council service is unavailable.
Historical decisions and original research
Appeal examples identify decision references, dates, proposals, outcomes and relevant reasoning where recorded, with links or document locators. They compare the reasons given in particular cases. An outcome in one case does not predict another, or show that an objection caused the result. Policy considered in a historical decision must be distinguished from guidance relevant today.
Our original studies state their selection criteria, observation dates, definitions, exclusions and limitations. Their selected samples are not representative of all English councils or decisions. Read the study-specific eight-council planning-comment study and method and six-council appeal-guidance study and method. Their supporting records include dated observations, source information and correction notes.
Dates, reviews and updates
A document or decision date describes the source. An access or verification date records a particular check. An article’s publication date records its release; a substantive review date concerns a review of its content. One date should not be taken as evidence of another.
Our records include checks before particular publications and source refreshes on recorded occasions. They do not establish continuous monitoring, a fixed update schedule or identical review coverage across the library. The review date above applies to this process description, not to every linked resource. We do not use it to re-date historical observations.
Reporting a correction
Please use our existing contact route to provide the page URL, disputed statement, suggested correction and supporting official evidence. Study-specific correction records describe how their versions and findings are handled. This page does not promise a response time or a universal public corrections register. Editorial corrections concern website information; the paid service’s factual-revision terms are separate.
Commercial interests and limitations
NeighbourObjection sells a document-preparation service, so we have a commercial interest in that service. We are not a council or government service. The website provides general information, not legal or professional planning advice. No planning outcome is guaranteed. Official material and our interpretation should be read separately, alongside the source and its recorded limitations.