Yes, I know them intimately.
Planning departments are designed to give the public the impression their government is protecting them and their interests while they provide an environment where developers, contractors, consultants and other private sector entities can operate with impunity while following the letter of the law.
You see, big private interests don't mind regulation, they have the resources, influence and raw economic power to adapt effortlessly to it and then pass the costs on to the consumer. It's their mom-and-pop competition that folds under the stress. Of course, in your libertarian utopia, this situation would never be allowed to evolve.