The government has introduced a range of measures to speed up planning after its general election promise to revamp the "slow and cumbersome" system.
The most dramatic proposal is to give parliament the power to approve in principle large infrastructure projects. Subsequent planning inquiries would only examine detailed elements.

A statement of government policy is to be in place before such projects are considered.

Other measures include strengthening inspectors' powers, and stricter timetables.

Stephen Byers, secretary of state for the DTLR, said: "We need a modern and fair process for making decisions about big infrastructure projects, such as new airports, runways and roads.

"These are essential for our economic future but are also controversial because they often affect the lives of people living near the planned project."

Examples of what the government might have in mind include Stansted Airport in Essex, Heathrow's Terminal 5 and the East London river crossing.

John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, welcomed the proposals but said more needed to be done at the "back-end, day-to-day level".

A CBI report entitled Planning for Productivity argues that commercial planning applications should be dealt with more quickly than household ones. It also calls for deadlines for local development plans and penalties if these are exceeded.

The reports says minor household applications be exempt.