NEW planning laws could see the Green Belt swamped with housing, supermarkets and factories, objectors are warning.

The controversial new rules could also leave residents without a say in whether applications should be granted.

Under the Government's Planning Green Paper decisions on major development projects would be made at a national level, without public consultation.

Many fear greenfield sites could soon be swamped with housing estates, supermarkets and factories, if the rules are adopted.

Harpenden MP Peter Lilley vehemently opposes the changes, claiming "local people will be robbed of their voice" if it goes ahead.

He said: "While the planning system needs reform, abolishing Hertfordshire residents' say on local planning is a retrograde step.

The scheme is "giving the green light to greenfield destruction on a massive scale," he claimed.

However, St Albans MP Kerry Pollard, who met with Housing and Planning Minister Lord Charles Faulkner last week to discuss the paper, welcomed the measures with reservations.

He said: "This will make the planning process easier and speed things up."

Hertfordshire County Council would be stripped of planning powers and the Eastern Regional Development Agency, based in Norwich, would end local discretion on many developments, according to Mr Lilley.

Under the new measures, 90 per cent of planning decisions would be made by St Albans District Council officers, rather than councillors, in order to "reduce delays for applicants."

Mr Pollard said: "What bothers me is that we have a tried and tested process where elected members of the district council make decisions on plans that affect local people."

But Mr Lilley predicted: "People across Hertfordshire will be outraged if the Government responds by removing their councillors' power to take decisions affecting our own backyard."

Meanwhile, the Hertfordshire branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) raised concerns about the loss of planning power at a local level.

Director Jenny Purchon said: "The Government is proposing that the strategic decisions over how much development should happen and where should be done at the regional level, which is too remote, too big and fundamentally unaccountable."

She added: "In abolishing county structure plans, the Government would be taking away people's right to get involved."

CPRE was also "disappointed" with the Green Paper's proposals for Business Planning Zones, where there would be minimal planning control. It is also concerned about the Government's rejection of the right for local people to challenge planning permission for a development that deviates from the publicly agreed plan.