Unlike the Premier League’s Fantasy Football game, which is simple and popular, the plan-making process is complex and ignored by most people. The result is a system that lacks public confidence.

The way consultation takes place - with residents asked whether or not they support the proposed mix of sites - encourages confrontation. The amount of information provided and the way it is presented makes it difficult, if not impossible, for communities to suggest alternatives.

Those difficulties could be addressed by learning from Fantasy Football. A simple online interface could identify all those sites that planning officers consider suitable for development, not just their favoured ones. Local residents could then be asked to choose their preferred combination of sites to meet the necessary housing target.

By making it easier to find the relevant information and submit a consultation response, levels of public engagement would increase, and become more representative of the community as a whole. Ensuring local residents have to consider the same trade-offs as the local authority would improve the quality and utility of those responses, but would give them a more central role in the process.

Landowners promoting sites for development would also be incentivised to secure public support, encouraging more active engagement with local communities to find out what design elements might secure a positive reaction.

This approach could be introduced without legislative change, and would serve to improve both public confidence in the planning system and the quality of new development.