You see it all the time for example with property developers (i.e...ask for 1000 houses when you really only want to build 100)...
As a councillor, sometime member of planning committees, and currently planning portfolio holder, I do wonder why they do that.
All it does is piss people off and make them much more cautious about the sensible application when they finally submit it. Plus of course they've wasted a fortune on planning consultants and lawyers to get to that stage.