Cllr Daniel Allen, the leader of North Herts District Council, slammed proposed changes to the planning system in a letter written on behalf of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure and Planning Partnership (HIPP)

The letter flagged concerns that reforms will remove the ability of Planning Committees to consider smaller applications that may have "significant amount of interest from the community"

These changes, argues Cllr Allen, could "unnecessarily limit the important role of public engagement and democracy in the planning application process"

Meanwhile Conservative county councillors have failed in a bid to ensure the option of a single unitary authority for Hertfordshire would be back on the table.

Hertfordshire currently operates on a 'two-tier' system of local government – with 10 district and borough councils and one unitary.

But by November, council leaders will have to submit proposals to the Government that would replace those councils with a unitary council structure.

Earlier this year, an interim submission to the Government by Hertfordshire's 11 council leaders identified five possible options – including one, two, three or four unitary authorities.