Government has listened to public concerns on planning, says National Trust

Beccy Speight, Director for the National Trust in the Midlands, said:

There are a number of important changes that have been made to the draft, responding to concerns that we and others raised. These include:

• the primacy of the plan is confirmed, ensuring that development must be consistent with the plan
• a better definition of sustainable development, based on the 2005 sustainable development strategy
• the insertion of references to the use of brownfield land and the need to promote town centres
• removal of the incendiary default ‘yes’ to development where there is no plan
• reference to the ‘intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside’, recognising the importance of countryside outside designated areas, which the vast majority of the beautiful countryside in the Midlands is
• confirmation that existing plans will remain in force while the new NPPF is introduced, and that there will be a one-year transition for the preparation of new plans

“All these changes improve the document and give it a better tone and balance.

"Now the serious business of planning begins. The country needs huge effort at a local level to get plans in place that properly reflect the integration of social, economic and environmental goals, and protect places people value.

“The National Trust, along with many other organisations and people, will play our part and watch to see how it works in practice.

“Nationally over 230,000 people signed our petition against the draft NPPF and 25% of these signatures came from the Midlands – a sign of the huge public concern it generated. I’m very proud that we in the Midlands made our voices for the countryside we love so strongly felt. Now we owe it to those people and future generations to get good plans in place to deliver the improved ambitions set out in the new document.”