Planning, put simply deciding what goes where, does not always get a good press but it is one of the unsung heroes of environmental protection.

But the system could be about to undergo one of the most profound changes for more than a generation and opposition is mounting.

The Government's Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill finished its passage through the House of Commons last week and will go to the House of Lords soon.

Ministers, fed-up with long and costly public inquiries, want to speed up the system.

Regional bodies rather than county or unitary councils would be responsible for strategic planning, deciding, for example, how many new houses should be built or where to put new roads.

Local councils would have to draw up new Local Development Frameworks to replace the local plans and structure plans, the system's building blocks today.

County councils, responsible for strategic planning, would lose their statutory powers altogether.

Business Planning Zones would be set up where normal planning permissions would not be needed. Ministers would be able to impose development against the wishes of local councils and local people.

The Secretary of State would have powers to speed up major infrastructure projects to avoid mammoth public inquiries, such as the hearing into Heathrow Airport's Terminal Five, or the eight-month inquiry into the Brighton bypass in 1982.

Ministers would not, however, be able to approve major schemes, such as the Hastings bypasses, simply by informing Parliament. The controversial proposal, included in the Green Paper that preceded the Bill, was dropped from the legislation.

The compulsory purchase system would be liberalised and there would be a fairer system of consultation.

Most councils are deeply unhappy about the proposals, according to research by the Local Government Association (LGA).

The umbrella group found about three-quarters of English local authorities believed the new system would give the public less say about what goes where, despite Government assurances.

A similar number believed county councils should continue to have a role in strategic planning.

Only five per cent thought people would feel they were being listened to if responsibility was devolved upwards to regional bodies.

In areas such as the South-East, where there is little enthusiasm for regional assemblies, the new bodies in charge of major planning decisions would not be elected.

Eighty per cent of councils said staff shortages and lack of money would make it more difficult to consult voters, a problem that would be exacerbated by the county councils having no role.

Business Planning Zones were described as a "gimmick".

Sixty-eight per cent of councils raised concerns, saying they lacked proper accountability and controls and there was a risk of inappropriate development.

Jane Chevis, who chairs the LGA's planning executive, said reform was needed but the Bill was unlikely to deliver.

She said: "Planning helps protect those without a voice and we believe it is vital to balance the need for reform of the planning system with the need to ensure proper democratic control of decision making.

"This survey highlights that the majority of councils believe the vital strategic role counties currently play in planning cannot be replaced effectively by the introduction of a two-tier system, which has such a huge distance between the regional and local level."

The Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) is similarly unhappy, branding the demise of the role of county councils as "anti-democratic and unworkable".

It said it was unacceptable to transfer powers from elected councils to unelected and remote regional bodies, depriving communities of a say in many major decisions.

Policy director Neil Sinden said there would be a dangerously wide gap between between local people and centralised decision makers.

He said: "It will be very difficult for local communities to appreciate, understand and engage with the process of regional planning because it is too remote a level.

"The removal of county structure plans will mean the only real opportunity they will have to influence the process is through the new regional planning process the Bill is introducing."

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, steering the Bill through Parliament, said the present system was too ponderous and needed reform.