Following the May meeting, in which Gladys Berejiklian's government agreed on a range of other housing policies, the Premier and Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said they would consult further on the use of Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels.

The government has since consulted with developers, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and council representatives. Nevertheless the proposal, if adopted on Thursday, would likely continue to be resisted by some councillors and council representatives, already angered by the government's forced merger policy.

Concern about the negative reaction from councillors prompted former planning minster Rob Stokes to drop the idea of mandatory IHAPs in planning reforms proposed in January.

The Property Council, which has been pushing for greater use of IHAPs, wrote to cabinet ministers on Wednesday with the results of a survey it commissioned into community attitudes about planning processes.

Although only one in five home owners who responded to the survey said they had ever heard of planning panels, once the process was described, a majority agreed with general propositions about keeping politics and self-interest out of planning decisions.