Planning reforms will be “devastating” and “effectively end the role of the local planning authority” if they go ahead, the council’s planning chief has warned.

Local authorities have been asked to comment on the planned changes, which would increase the 300,000 homes built nationwide each year.

The government is running an eight-week public consultation on the proposals, which ends on October 1, describing them as “the most radical reforms to our planning system since the Second World War”.

They include plans to build 300,000 homes a year in England and a new formula that determines how many homes should be built in each area of the country, as well as changes to affordable housing.

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Wokingham Borough Council say the changes will result in over 1,600 homes being built in Wokingham each year, almost double the current target.

Cllr Halsall said: “This has come completely out of the blue and is horribly unfair to Wokingham Borough.”

The increase in house-building targets will have little impact on RBC – it is being asked to build 700 homes a year under the draft plans (an increase of 51 from the current target)  and almost met that target this year with 689 homes built.

But the council has its own strong criticism of various parts of the plans.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Page said: “The planning proposals are devastating. I agree wholeheartedly with John Halsall.

“It is an attack on local government, removing local committees’ roles. It is effectively handing planning to the big volume house builders.

“The role of the local planning authority will be effectively ended.”

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Cllr Page highlighted proposals to remove affordable housing from projects of 40 homes or less as a particular concern.

He said this would reduce the amount of affordable housing to almost zero as most developments in Reading are for less than 40 homes.

The planning chief said he hopes there will be unanimous support from councillors when the RBC’s response to the consultation is discussed at next Monday’s Policy committee (September 28).

The government claims the new formula aims to make it “easier to build homes where they are most needed”.

As part of the shake up, the government also wants to extend the Permission in Principle consent scheme for major developments, so landowners and developers have a faster route to planning permission without having to draw up detailed plans first.

It also wants to bring in rules that require developers to build discounted homes for first-time buyers.