For NZ resource consent planners
Forward the brief.
Shape the draft.
Approve when ready.
Dendra drafts pre-assessments, s92 responses and AEE sections from the emails you forward. You refine the Google Doc by reply, and nothing goes to a client or council unless you send it.
- Founding price from $750 a month + GST
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Waikato councils and the Auckland Unitary Plan
What it drafts
Working documents for the consent work you already do.
For planners at New Zealand planning consultancies, from sole practitioners to teams of five. Every draft is a Google Doc in a Drive folder shared only with your firm's planners, with your letterhead once you have shared it, for you to question, edit and approve.
Pre-assessments
A draft first view of the planning pathway, the rules that may apply and a suggested activity status (with the rules it relied on cited for you to check), effects to assess and the information still missing. Not counted against your monthly AEEs.
Council and s92 responses
Draft replies to s92 further information requests, comments on draft conditions, other council correspondence and client letters. Not counted against your monthly AEEs.
More on council and s92 responsesAEE sections
Draft sections of an assessment of environmental effects, set out for you to check, complete and sign off. Counted against your monthly AEEs.
More on aee sectionsOptions memos
A comparison of possible consenting pathways, with room for you to test and refine the recommendation.
Cover letters
Supporting letters for an application, ready for your edits and approval.
A summary with every draft
Dendra's reply links the Doc, sums it up in a few lines and lists what still needs checking.
How it works
Email in. Google Doc out. You stay in charge.
There is no new system to learn. Dendra works in the email thread and the Google Doc, and every draft waits for a planner.
Step 1
Forward the brief
Forward the client email, council letter, site details, plans or notes from your usual inbox. Dendra only acts on email from your firm's registered planners.
Step 2
Dendra gathers the evidence
It looks up the site (the LINZ parcel, and the council's zone and overlay maps where they are published) and pulls the district plan provisions that look relevant from its library of council plan text before it drafts anything.
Step 3
A Google Doc comes back
You get a reply with the Doc link, a short summary and a list of what still needs checking. The draft cites the plan provisions it relies on and lists their sources, so you can check each one. If Dendra's automatic check finds a rule number it cannot trace to those sources, that list warns you. The check can miss some, so check every citation.
Step 4
Reply to refine it
Ask a question, correct it, or forward council feedback. Dendra revises the same Doc and keeps any edits you made directly.
Step 5
You approve and send
Reply “Approved” when it is ready. What goes to your client or the council, and when, stays your call.
Councils covered
Plan text from official council sources, and coverage expanding.
Dendra builds its planning library from council and government publications. Plan changes, appeals and provisions that are not yet operative are marked in the plan text Dendra works from. Check the status of every provision a draft relies on.
Waikato region
District and city plans for ten councils in the region, including Hamilton City and Taupō District.
- Hamilton City
- Waikato District
- Waipā District
- Thames-Coromandel District
- Hauraki District
- Matamata-Piako District
- Ōtorohanga District
- South Waikato District
- Taupō District
- Waitomo District
Hauraki and Waitomo do not publish a zoning map service, so for sites there the draft flags the zone for you to confirm. Waikato coverage in detail
Auckland
The Auckland Unitary Plan, including precincts and the Plan Change 120 hazard provisions that have legal effect. Site lookups read Auckland Council's public zone, overlay, control and hazard layers.
National
The Resource Management Act, the National Planning Standards, the NES for contaminated soil (with the HAIL list) and the NES for freshwater.
Working somewhere else?
Coverage is expanding. Regional plans are not in the library yet, and nor are councils outside Waikato and Auckland. Dendra can still draft from plan text you supply, and its automatic check warns you when it finds a rule number it cannot trace to a source (it can miss some, so check every citation). Tell us which councils you work with.
The planner stays in control
What Dendra does not do.
Drafts can contain errors, omissions or out-of-date references, so Dendra is built around your review, not around replacing it. This is written into our terms of service.
It does not send for you
Dendra only ever replies to your firm's own planners. It does not email clients or councils. You decide what leaves the firm.
It does not replace your judgement
Dendra prepares drafts. A qualified planner must check every one, and your firm owns the professional advice.
It does not lodge applications
Council submission and lodgement stay with you.
It does not check the plan for you
Dendra cites the plan text it relied on so you can check it quickly. Checking the rules, interpreting the RMA and any legal assessment stay with the planner. Its automatic check warns you about rule numbers it cannot trace to its sources or your material, but it can miss some, so check every citation.
Your data
Where your clients' information goes, in plain words.
Planning files hold other people's information. Here is where it is stored and processed. The detail is in our privacy policy and terms of service.
Database in Sydney
Dendra's database is hosted by Supabase in Sydney, Australia, and the service runs on Google Cloud in Sydney.
Email and Docs in Google Workspace
The emails you send and the drafts Dendra writes live in Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive and Docs), in Google's data centres, which may be outside New Zealand.
Drafting by Anthropic, no training
Drafts are written with Anthropic's AI model, processed in the United States. Your material is not used to train AI models.
Your firm owns its material
Your material and your drafts belong to your firm. Each firm's material is kept separate, and no other firm can see it.
How Dendra learns
Dendra learns your firm's style and corrections from your edits, for your firm only. No lessons are shared between firms today. If shared lessons start, they must be de-identified and checked by a person first, and a lead planner can opt your firm out by email.
Site lookups
To look up a site, Dendra sends its address or location to LINZ, the OpenStreetMap geocoder and the council's public map services.
Export and deletion
If you leave, we export your material on request and delete it within 30 days, apart from records the law requires us to keep.
Pricing
Founding partner pricing.
For the first 10 planning teams: 40% off the list price for the first two years. Prices exclude GST and are billed monthly.
- One plannerFounding price
Solo planner
$750/month + GST
List price
$1,250. Founding price for your first 24 months.- 4 AEEs a month
- Pre-assessments included
- Council replies included
- 2 to 5 plannersFounding price
Practice
$2,100/month + GST
List price
$3,500. Founding price for your first 24 months.- 15 AEEs a month
- Pre-assessments included
- Council replies included
Extra AEEsFrom $250 + GST each. Dendra asks a lead planner before drafting one, unless your firm has set a monthly number it may draft without asking.
What counts as an AEEOne AEE is counted when Dendra delivers the first complete draft for a job. Revisions are free. Pre-assessments and council replies are not counted as AEEs. All drafting is within a monthly AI usage limit for each firm.
90-day guaranteeNot right for your team? Tell us within 90 days and we refund what you have paid.
FAQ
Questions planners ask.
What is Dendra?
Dendra is an email-first planning document assistant for New Zealand planning consultancies. You forward a brief by email and Dendra returns a draft Google Doc, such as a pre-assessment, an s92 response or AEE sections, that you question, refine and approve.
Who is Dendra for?
Planners at New Zealand planning consultancies who prepare resource consent work. The Solo plan is for one planner and the Practice plan is for teams of 2 to 5 planners.
What can Dendra draft?
Pre-assessments, responses to s92 further information requests and other council correspondence, comments on draft conditions, client letters, options memos, AEE sections and cover letters. Each draft is a Google Doc.
How does it work by email?
A registered planner at your firm forwards the brief and any attachments to Dendra. Dendra looks up the site, pulls the plan provisions that look relevant from its library, drafts the document and replies with a link to the Google Doc, a short summary and what still needs checking. The plan provisions the draft relied on are cited and listed with their sources, for you to check. You reply to ask questions or make corrections, and Dendra revises the same Doc.
Does Dendra send anything to clients or councils?
No. Dendra only replies to your firm's own planners. It does not email clients or councils and does not lodge applications. You decide what leaves your firm.
Does Dendra replace the planner's judgement?
No. Dendra prepares drafts, and drafts can contain errors or out-of-date references. It does not replace the planner's own check of the plan rules, interpretation of the RMA or legal assessment. A qualified planner must check every draft, and your firm remains responsible for the advice it gives.
How does Dendra relate to NZPI's guidance on generative AI?
NZPI's guidance treats generative AI as a junior assistant that always needs supervision, and says planners should never rely on it for RMA interpretations, plan rule checks or legal assessments. Dendra is designed to be used that way: it drafts, cites the plan provisions it relied on with their sources, warns you when it finds a rule number it cannot trace to them (it can miss some, so check every citation), and sends nothing to a client or council. NZPI has not reviewed or endorsed Dendra.
Which councils does Dendra cover?
The district and city plans of ten Waikato region councils, including Hamilton City and Taupō District, and the Auckland Unitary Plan, plus national instruments such as the RMA and the National Planning Standards. Coverage is expanding. For other councils Dendra can draft from plan text you supply, and its automatic check warns you when it finds a rule number it cannot trace to a source (it can miss some, so check every citation).
Where is our data held?
Dendra's database is hosted by Supabase in Sydney, Australia, and the service runs on Google Cloud in Sydney. Emails and drafts are in Google Workspace. Drafting uses Anthropic's AI model, processed in the United States. Payments are handled by Stripe. Our team's AI assistants (ChatGPT and Claude, United States) may also process information we hold.
Is our material used to train AI models?
No. Your firm's material is not used to train or fine-tune AI models, and by default Anthropic does not train its models on data sent through its commercial API.
How much does Dendra cost?
For the first 10 planning teams, the founding partner price is $750 a month for the Solo plan (list price $1,250) and $2,100 a month for the Practice plan (list price $3,500), for 24 months. Prices exclude GST. Extra AEEs are from $250 each.
What counts as an AEE?
One AEE is counted when Dendra delivers the first complete AEE draft for a job, meaning one application for one site. Revisions are free. Pre-assessments and council replies are not counted as AEEs, but all drafting is within a monthly AI usage limit for each firm. Included AEEs do not roll over.
What if Dendra is not right for us?
Tell us within 90 days of your first payment and we refund the fees you have paid in full. After that you can cancel any time, effective at the end of your billing month.
How do we get started?
Request a walkthrough with the form on this site. We set your firm up with you by email: you share a few reports you are happy with and your letterhead so drafts fit your practice, accept the terms, and set up monthly billing through Stripe.
Who makes Dendra?
Dendra is made by ShiftCurve Limited, a software company in Auckland, New Zealand.
Built by ShiftCurve
Dendra is a ShiftCurve product built with practising NZ planners. We build practical workflow tools where professional judgement stays in control and software works inside the tools teams already use.
ShiftCurve Limited, Auckland, New Zealand. NZBN 9429053587725.
Request a walkthrough
See Dendra on a job like yours.
Tell us about your firm and the councils you work with. A person reads every enquiry and replies by email.
What happens next
- 1We reply by email to arrange a walkthrough of Dendra on an example job.
- 2We set your firm up with you by email: your planners, a few reports you are happy with, and your letterhead.
- 3You accept the terms and set up monthly billing through Stripe.
- 4You forward your first job.