Parts of the planning system could be stripped away by the government in its attempts to speed up house building.
Consulting bodies like Sports England, the Theatres Trust and the Garden History Society will no longer be required for those looking to build under the new plans being considered by ministers.
It is hoped a reduction in statutory consultees will reduce the waiting times for projects.
Angela Rayner, who is both deputy prime minister and housing secretary, said: “We’ve put growth at the heart of our plans as a government, with our Plan for Change milestone to secure 1.5 million homes and unleash Britain’s potential to build.
“We need to reform the system to ensure it is sensible and balanced, and does not create unintended delays – putting a hold on people’s lives and harming our efforts to build the homes people desperately need.
“New developments must still meet our high expectations to create the homes, facilities and infrastructure that communities need.”
Consultees will not be completely excised from the planning process under the changes.
However, instead of it being mandatory to get the opinion of such bodies, their scope will be “narrowed to focus on heritage, safety and environmental protection”, according to the government.
The government says it has identified issues like consultees failing to engage “proactively”, taking too long to provide advice, re-opening issues that have already been dealt with, submitting automatic objections which they later withdraw, and submitting advice for “gold-plated” outcomes that are unrealistic and difficult to achieve.
More than 300 planning applications have been sent up to the secretary of state’s desk in the past three years because of disagreements.
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