200,000 sign National Trust petition for planning rethink

More than 200,000 people have signed a National Trust petition calling on the Government to rethink its controversial planning reforms, the organisation said yesterday. Around 210,000 signatures have been handed in on the last day of the Government's public consultation into the proposed reforms.

Ministers say changes to the planning system, which slim down more than 1,000 pages of policy to just 52, are needed to boost growth at the same time as giving communities more say in protecting the environment.

But concerns have been raised that the reforms, which focus on a "presumption in favour of sustainable development" without a clear definition of what that means, could lead to a return to damaging development and urban sprawl.

The National Trust, with a number of other groups, has been calling for changes to the draft national planning policy framework to ensure it protects the countryside.