Not really. As it stands, democratically elected councillors engage in the planning process at two points. First, they develop a local plan (in line with national policy) that identifies the sites where they want to see development targeted. This will also set out the types of development they do (and don’t) want to see. 

Second, a subset of councillors – the planning committee – vote on individual applications after receiving recommendations from the council’s unelected planning officers. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes to get rid of that second step in most cases.

Under the new system, elected officials would still get to have their say on what types of development can and can’t go ahead when they set their local plan. It’s just they can’t then turn around and tell a local plan compliant proposal that they’ve changed their mind. It’s not eliminating democracy, it’s shifting it from elected officials using their discretion on a case-by-case basis to elected officials setting (and sticking to) rules.