THOUSANDS of new homes could be 'fast tracked' onto brownfield sites around Worcestershire under major changes to Britain's planning system.

The Government has signalled the biggest shape-up of development law in a generation which includes fines for councils which drag their feet.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid today announced that in a bid to speed up house building, developers will be given automatic planning permission to build on plots of vacant industrial land.

The measure, contained in a new 90-page dossier called Fixing the Foundations: Creating a More Prosperous Nation, was unveiled alongside Chancellor George Osborne in Birmingham and has divided opinion in Worcestershire.

If it becomes law it would mean the vast majority of the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), an emerging blueprint for 28,370 homes, could potentially be implemented as fast as developers can build.

Councillor Alan Amos, chairman of the city council's planning committee, said: "I am open minded about whether it'll be better or worse, but there are a couple of essential points.

"It's vital the public are still consulted and that representatives of the people, in other words councillors, still have the say over how this county develops - that's why we have a planning system.

"Most planning applications are not black and white - on the committee we're overseeing changes to the city bit by bit, and the public are entitled to a genuine, constructive part in that process.

"That's important otherwise democracy means nothing - nobody on the committee wants to delay anything, we don't have a vast amount of applications hanging around or vast appeals for non-determination - most delays are due to developers sitting on the permissions we give."

Elsewhere, Worcester MP Robin Walker said: "I'm all in favour of getting as much building on brownfield land as possible - we do need to be careful about not taking any land earmarked for employment, but if we can get around that a 'fast track' system makes perfect sense."

The city council today said it was open minded to the shake-up until firmer details emerge on how it will work in reality.

It came as official figures showed new house building fell by 5.8 per cent nationally in May, the sharpest decline in nearly four years.

The policies on speeding up new development is part of a larger Government push to boost productivity.

"Local people will still have control over planning," said Mr Javid.

"The point of this is to make sure we build more homes, that local people are still involved in those decisions and we find ways to speed it up."

Under the new proposals - which will need to be approved by MPs in a new Bill - automatic planning permission would be granted on all "suitable" brownfield sites under a new 'zonal' system.

Examples on where the ruling would have affected Worcester include the old Kays plot off Bransford Road, a brownfield site where the council rejected a bid for 160 homes before it was overturned at appeal.