Applications for major infrastructure developments will be sped up and simplified under proposals contained in a new government white paper.

Minor private planning decisions will also be overhauled to make it easier for households to construct extensions and conservatries.

Announcing the plans in parliament, Ruth Kelly told MPs the current UK planning system was “baffling”, weighted against the less well-off and slow to make decisions.

She claimed the current “complex, unwieldy and overlapping rules” would be replaced with a “transparent and timely” single system, and announced the creation of an Independent Planning Commission (IPC) for major developments.

While she promised that consultation will not become “a box ticking exercise”, she was keen to deny there is any conflict between “speed and public consultation”.

Environmental groups and rural preservation organisations are outraged by the proposals, which will simplify and speed up the permission process for major building projects such as airports and nuclear power stations.

But the government is focussing on those parts of the white paper concerning small private projects, such as house extensions. These would no longer require planning permission where there is little negative impact on neighbours.

Applications for householder modifications have rocketed in recent years, doubling over the last twelve years to around 330,000 a year. While nine out of ten of the applications are eventually accepted, the process often costs as much as £1,000 and can last up to three months.