No. The use of artificial intelligence or other software to assist with planning research, analysis, spelling, grammar, organisation or accessibility does not, by itself, make a representation spam. The proper distinction is between genuine participation supported by technology and automated, fabricated or indiscriminate material that is not properly checked or does not represent the considered views of a real participant.

Why ObjectNow is setting out its position

A PlaceChangers article entitled AI, objection spam and the future of planning consultation referred specifically to ObjectNow while discussing what it described as an emerging problem of AI-generated objection spam. The article raises legitimate concerns about generic content, fabricated references, repetitive submissions and automation. ObjectNow shares concerns about inaccurate or artificial material entering the planning process. We do not accept, however, that responsible technological assistance to genuine participants should be treated as equivalent to spam.

PlaceChangers did not contact ObjectNow for comment before publishing the article. There was no legal requirement for it to do so. Had we been approached, we could have explained how ObjectNow actually operates and the substantial human work undertaken before a campaign is made available through our platform.

How ObjectNow actually uses AI

ObjectNow is a human-led platform. Our volunteers can spend hundreds of hours examining major planning and energy applications, which may contain hundreds of documents and thousands of pages of technical material. This work includes considering application documents against the relevant planning framework, local development plan policies and other material applicable to the proposal.

We use AI during the research and analytical stage. It can assist our volunteers in processing large volumes of documentation, comparing what an applicant has submitted with relevant planning frameworks and policies, and producing internal analytical reports identifying matters that warrant closer examination. Those reports are research aids. Volunteers examine the underlying documents, check the relevant sources and determine which issues should be investigated or developed further.

AI does not generate the Foundation Objection material presented to an ObjectNow user for submission. The foundation content is researched, reviewed and approved in advance through our human-led campaign process. The public-facing platform then uses programmed algorithms together with pre-approved data and foundation material to assemble a representation according to the matters selected by the individual user. It is not asking a generative AI model to invent an objection for that person.

The individual remains responsible for their final representation. They can read the assembled material, decide which available matters they wish to raise, edit or remove text, reword it and add their own local knowledge or experience before submission. Human oversight therefore exists throughout ObjectNow's research and publication process, while the objector retains control of what they ultimately submit.

What the planning system says about AI

There is no general rule of planning law requiring a member of the public to compose every word of a representation personally and without assistance. Planning decision-making is concerned with the substance and relevance of the matters raised. Scottish Government guidance, for example, recognises legitimate public concern or support expressed on relevant planning matters as capable of being a material consideration. Whether a consideration is material is a question of law, while the weight given to it is for the decision-maker.

Current official guidance also expressly permits responsible AI use. The Planning Inspectorate states that AI can be used positively when it is properly and transparently used, and permits people to use AI to help prepare information submitted in an appeal, application or examination. Interested parties may use AI to help draft or translate a representation, subject to the Inspectorate's requirements concerning disclosure of substantive AI use, checking and responsibility for accuracy.

The Planning Advisory Service similarly recognises that AI has the potential to support wider and more informed participation in planning. Its guidance focuses on the quality of the resulting representation: it should be relevant, accurate, evidence-based, clear, proportionate and specific to the proposal or policy. Those are appropriate standards. They address the quality of the material rather than assuming that the use of technology makes participation illegitimate.

Accessibility and ordinary writing assistance

Not everyone enters the planning system with the same writing ability, confidence or experience. A person may be dyslexic, have difficulty with spelling, grammar or punctuation, struggle to organise complex information, use English as an additional language, or simply have little experience of formal planning correspondence. Software such as ChatGPT can help a person organise their own material or improve its grammar, spelling and presentation without changing the substance of the views they wish to express.

The Planning Inspectorate's current guidance is particularly clear on this distinction. It does not require disclosure of routine tools such as spellchecking, grammar suggestions, formatting tools or accessibility functions. Its disclosure requirements are directed at deliberate and substantive uses of AI that create or materially alter content.

The Equality Act 2010 also provides a wider legal context for accessibility in England, Wales and Scotland through reasonable-adjustment duties in specified circumstances. It does not create a specific statutory right to use ChatGPT in a planning representation, but it reinforces the importance of avoiding unnecessary barriers that can place disabled people at a substantial disadvantage.

The same standard must apply to applicants and communities

AI is not used only by objectors or campaign organisations. Official Planning Inspectorate guidance expressly permits applicants to use AI to help prepare information for submission, provided its use is disclosed where required and the applicant remains responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of the material. The Inspectorate's guidance therefore recognises a legitimate role for AI on both sides of the planning process.

ObjectNow considers that this principle must be applied consistently. It would be difficult to justify accepting AI-assisted research, document preparation, summarisation or analysis when undertaken by an applicant or professional adviser while characterising comparable assistance as 'spam' when it is used by a community organisation or resident to understand and respond to the same application.

The issue is the reliability of the evidence, not who used the technology. Desktop studies, modelling, datasets and technology-assisted assessments can be useful, but they are not infallible. They may not always capture conditions experienced on the ground. Local knowledge can identify matters that a desk-based assessment has missed, simplified or incorrectly characterised, including the actual use of a route, localised flooding, vegetation, views, landscape characteristics or other site-specific conditions.

Where a resident's first-hand evidence conflicts with a desktop assessment, neither should be accepted or rejected merely because one was produced professionally or with technological assistance. The relevant evidence should be examined on its merits, against the applicable planning framework and the facts of the particular site. AI-generated or AI-assisted inaccuracies in an applicant's material deserve the same scrutiny as inaccuracies in a public representation.

This is why ObjectNow does not regard 'AI spam' as a useful label simply because technology has been used. If AI produces inaccurate, fabricated or irrelevant material, that material should be challenged regardless of whether it originated with an applicant, consultant, authority, campaign organisation or resident. Conversely, where technology helps a genuine participant analyse evidence accurately or communicate relevant information clearly, its use should not itself diminish the legitimacy of the resulting material.

Participation and proportionality

Major applicants may have access to planning consultants, environmental specialists, lawyers and other professional advisers, and may prepare extensive technical documentation over a substantial period. Members of the public can then be expected to understand that material and formulate a response within the applicable consultation period. Technology can help reduce that information and resource imbalance without changing the legal test applied to the resulting representation.

Making participation easier is not the same as manufacturing participation. If a person genuinely holds a concern about a development but lacks the specialist knowledge, writing confidence or time required to navigate a substantial application unaided, helping that person understand the material and express a relevant concern enables participation that might otherwise be lost. It does not create the underlying opinion.

ObjectNow's position

ObjectNow supports responsible, transparent and human-supervised use of technology throughout the planning process. We do not support fabricated evidence, invented planning policies or case law, bot-generated representations, duplicate submissions designed to manipulate participation, or submissions made without the knowledge of the person concerned.

The same standards should apply to everyone. Material should be assessed for its accuracy, relevance and evidential value, with appropriate human responsibility for its content. A representation that is inaccurate, irrelevant or fabricated remains deficient whether it was written by a person, copied from a template or produced with AI assistance. Equally, a genuine and relevant planning representation does not become spam merely because technology helped a person understand the application or express their views.

Sources and further information

Planning Inspectorate - Use of artificial intelligence in casework evidence

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-casework-evidence

Planning Inspectorate - Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects: Advice on the Preparation and Submission of Application Documents

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nationally-significant-infrastructure-projects-advice-on-the-preparation-and-submission-of-application-documents

Planning Advisory Service - AI and Planning Representations

https://www.local.gov.uk/pas/topics/digital-planning/digital-development-management/ai-and-planning-representations

Scottish Government - Planning Circular 3/2022: Development Management Procedures, Annex A

https://www.gov.scot/publications/planning-circular-3-2022-development-management-procedures/pages/9/

Equality Act 2010

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15

PlaceChangers - AI, objection spam and the future of planning consultation

https://www.placechangers.co.uk/blog/ai-objection-spam-and-the-future-of-planning-consultation

Last checked:

25 September 2026

ObjectNow is an independent, volunteer-led campaign organisation based in Scotland. We assist campaign groups and members of the public who want to understand and respond to planning and energy infrastructure applications.

From time to time, we see speculation about who funds ObjectNow, who is behind it and why the names and addresses of our volunteers are not published on our website. Some of the more imaginative theories do make us laugh, but the questions themselves are reasonable and deserve a straightforward answer.

ObjectNow is not funded by oil companies, fossil-fuel companies, energy developers, political parties or an undisclosed organisation operating behind the scenes. We are not based offshore or outside Scotland.

There is no external company, campaign organisation or individual dictating ObjectNow's policies, deciding which projects we examine or controlling the conclusions we reach. ObjectNow is genuinely independent of outside influence.

ObjectNow is also not a registered limited company, and we do not claim to be one. The fact that somebody cannot find a company called ObjectNow at Companies House therefore does not indicate that ObjectNow is offshore, secret or improperly constituted. Companies House registration and company-number disclosure requirements apply to registered companies.

Why don't you publish the names and addresses of the people behind ObjectNow?

Because ObjectNow is a volunteer organisation and we do not consider publishing the personal names and residential addresses of our volunteers on the internet necessary or appropriate.

That does not mean ObjectNow hides its identity from the authorities with whom we deal. The Scottish Government and its Energy Consents Unit know exactly who we are. They have the relevant names, contact information and addresses for the people operating ObjectNow. We communicate with public authorities using our genuine identities and contact information.

There is an important distinction between accountability to the authorities and publishing volunteers' private information to anybody who happens to visit a website.

There is no general requirement simply arising from operating a voluntary campaign group that requires every volunteer's name and home address to be published publicly. Different disclosure requirements can apply depending upon an organisation's legal structure and activities, which is why claims based solely on Companies House requirements can be misleading.

Who controls ObjectNow?

We do. ObjectNow determines its own policies, research, campaigns and operating decisions.

Campaign groups can ask us for assistance and can provide local information and evidence. That does not give those organisations control over ObjectNow. Likewise, somebody providing financial support does not acquire the ability to determine our planning positions or policies.

Our independence also means that we are free to disagree with organisations or individuals we have previously assisted.

Is ObjectNow funded by "Big Oil"?

No. Categorically not. ObjectNow is not funded by oil companies or the fossil-fuel industry.

We have seen suggestions that our work opposing or scrutinising renewable-energy developments means that an oil company must secretly be financing us. That assumption is false.

ObjectNow examines individual planning and infrastructure proposals on their evidence, environmental effects, planning policy and legal framework. Scrutinising a wind farm, solar development, battery-storage facility, transmission line or substation does not imply opposition to renewable energy generally, nor does it establish a connection with another part of the energy industry.

Is ObjectNow based offshore or outside Scotland?

No. ObjectNow is based in Scotland and is operated from Scotland.

Suggestions that we are secretly an offshore organisation appear largely to have arisen from people being unable to locate a limited company called ObjectNow on Companies House. As explained above, that starts from the incorrect assumption that ObjectNow claims to be a limited company. It does not.

Why not publish everyone's details simply to stop the rumours?

Because internet speculation is not a sufficient reason to publish volunteers' private information.

People are entitled to scrutinise ObjectNow. They are entitled to question our arguments, challenge our evidence, disagree with our conclusions and ask reasonable questions about how we operate. We think that scrutiny is healthy.

Our response is therefore to be transparent about what ObjectNow does, how our platform operates, how our planning material is produced, how we are funded and how our decisions are made.

We do not believe transparency requires volunteers to surrender their personal privacy.

The relevant authorities know who they are dealing with. Our work and planning arguments can be scrutinised on their merits. Ultimately, members of the public remain free to decide whether they agree with our material and whether they want to use ObjectNow.

In summary: ObjectNow is a Scottish-based, volunteer-led and genuinely independent organisation. We are not funded or controlled by the oil industry, we are not an offshore organisation, and there is no hidden organisation directing our activities. The Scottish Government and Energy Consents Unit know who we are and hold the relevant contact details. We simply do not publish our volunteers' private names and residential addresses on the internet.

Sources and further information

Companies House / GOV.UK: Running a limited company - signs, stationery and promotional material https://www.gov.uk/running-a-limited-company/signs-stationery-and-promotional-material

ICO: What privacy information should we provide? https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/the-right-to-be-informed/what-privacy-information-should-we-provide/

Last checked: 25 September 2026