A major upheaval in the way planning applications are dealt with could leave town and parish councils without a voice.

Wallingford Town Council has joined other Oxfordshire critics of changes envisaged in a Government Green Paper.

Member and planning consultant Nigel Moor detailed the changes to the council.

He said: "Nowhere in the Green Paper is the role of parish and town councils in the planning process mentioned at all.

"It will leave towns and villages without a voice in what happens in their communities.

"Currently they see the plans and have time to comment on them before decisions are taken.

"This planned change is a very retrograde step."

He said other changes included:

The end of Local and Structure plans

Ninety per cent of applications decided by officers, not committees

Time to lodge appeals cut from six months to three

Local authorities ordered to agree and stick to a timetable with developers over applications

Regional strategies could be decided by non-elected bodies.

Mr Moor said: "It gives cause for considerable concern."

He was backed by member Richard Wooldridge.

He said: "This will get right away from democracy in planning.

"It will lose local people the option of commenting on plans affecting their communities.

"It is designed to take everything away from local people and give it all to the big boys, and unelected bodies."