The Hertsmere Labour party has hit out at plans which it says stops local people from objecting to developments.

Its leader Jeremy Newmark has joined Shadow Communties Secretary Steve Reed in condemning the so-called Developers' Charter which they claim will "gag" residents from having a say.

With a target of building 300,000 new homes a year in England, Government ministers want to overhaul the planning system, arguing reforms would boost the building of high-quality, sustainable homes, by streamlining the process and cutting red tape.

The Guardian reports Boris Johnson's planning reforms include stripping planning committees of development decisions and making it easier to obtain automatic consent.

There are concerns greenbelt land, which makes up 80 per cent of Hertsmere, could be "concreted over" under the reforms.

In an opposition day debate on June 21, the national Labour party called a vote to protect people’s right to object to individual planning applications.

Almost all of the Conservative MP's refused to take part in Labour's motion, including Hertsmere MP and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden.

Following the motion, Cllr Newmark said: "The people of Hertsmere should have a say over what happens in our community - that’s a basic principle of our democracy.

"We’ve got to build more homes, but that has to be done in the right way. The Conservatives' Developers' Charter is a plan to stop local people from objecting to bad developments in our area and give some of their biggest donors even more power to push through plans over our heads.

"That means we all lose the right to prevent awful monstrosities popping up all over our towns and villages – from green space, to playground to countryside, nothing would be off the table.

"It’s astonishing that Oliver Dowden and this Tory Government are pressing ahead with this plan. In Parliament, the Conservatives had the chance to show that they are listening to the huge opposition to their plan.

"Instead they showed they are determined to carry on regardless."

After the Tories lost the Chesham & Amersham seat to the Liberal Democrats earlier this month, Chipping Barnet Conservative MP Theresa Villiers urged ministers "to use this as an opportunity to rethink their approach to planning reform".

Also responding to the loss in Chesham & Amersham, Conservative Party co-chairman Amanda Milling said the "concerns about planning and HS2 were loud and clear".

Shadow Communities secretary Steve Reed MP said: "Voters have made clear they don’t like the Conservative Government’s Developers’ Charter, but despite many Conservative MPs saying they support residents’ right to have a say over developments on their own doorsteps, they refused to vote for it.

"The Developers’ Charter will gag the public and set wealthy developers loose to concrete over local neighbourhoods and green spaces at will."

Cllr Newmark added the reforms "do nothing to solve the affordable housing crisis".

At a Hertfordshire County Council meeting last week, councillors agreed that Tory executive member for growth, infrastructure and planning, Stephen Boulton, should write to MPs in Hertfordshire to raise concerns about the proposals to reform the planning system.

Last week, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the planning reforms were being "mischaracterised".

He told the Andrew Marr show: "Our policy very often was very frankly mischaracterised. At no time has this proposal been about suddenly indiscriminately bricking over the countryside."

Oliver Dowden's office was contacted for comment.