Local residents face having to pay £120 if they want to appeal against a decision by their council not to grant planning permission for many minor schemes to improve their homes such as loft conversions, house extensions, fencing and replacement windows, under new laws set to be introduced by the Government.

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has launched a campaign to get the measure scrapped and has called on residents to contact their MPs and councillors to voice their opposition. Appeals are presently heard by the Independent Planning Inspectorate and are free of charge.

Robert Upton, secretary-general of the RTPI, said: “This would be a stealth tax which hundreds of ordinary people will have to pay if they disagree with the council and want to appeal against a decision. It is also totally wrong as a matter of principle that councils should be hearing appeals against their own decisions.”

Ministers want to remove the existing right of appeal to an independent and impartial body, known as the Planning Inspectorate, and replace it with a new system which could see councillors, possibly from other authorities, sitting in judgement over local residents’ appeals against refusals of planning applications.

Businesses also face having to pay the hefty charge for minor appeals against decisions involving shop fronts and small changes to land use.