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Reforms to planning laws will mean rural towns and villages may be forced to accept new building developments - even if it means large parts of countryside may be lost. What is your view? Comment and vote in our poll here.
Interactive graphic showing rural areas of England which could be lost to development if tight planning laws are changed. The countryside has been protected by tight laws since the 1940s.
Telegraph View: A committee of MPs is right to urge the Government to look again at its proposed planning reforms.
20 Dec 2011
| CommentsThe Coalition's planning reforms are biased in favour of developers and create an “inevitable” risk of more development on the greenest parts of England, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.
20 Dec 2011
| CommentsThe campaign against controversial planning reforms is set to embarrass the Government by targeting constituencies where the National Trust has more supporters than the sitting MP.
18 Dec 2011
| CommentsRichard Adams, author of 'Watership Down’, recalls the meadows in Berkshire that inspired his novel – but are now under threat from developers.
17 Dec 2011
| CommentsThe amount of countryside that could be lost under controversial planning reforms may far exceed what ministers have admitted, according to campaigners.
11 Dec 2011
| CommentsDeputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is under pressure to water down the Government’s controversial planning reforms from his own party.
06 Dec 2011
| CommentsLeading Liberal Democrats have joined a rebellion over Government proposals to relax the planning laws in favour of developers.
06 Dec 2011
| CommentsThe National Trust has invited Daily Telegraph readers to nominate the unsung heroes who help preserve Britain's green spaces for a new award scheme.
03 Dec 2011
| CommentsGovernment agencies which are meant to protect the countryside are to be forced to encourage more building in rural areas, under new plans.
30 Nov 2011
| CommentsA perfect habitat for rare insects in north Kent is at risk from developers, says Clive Aslet.
30 Nov 2011
| CommentsDevelopers could be allowed to build on some of Britain’s most beautiful countryside under the latest Government plans to water down strict EU protections.
29 Nov 2011
| CommentsThe Prince of Wales has criticised urban sprawl and described it as the “greatest challenge” facing the planet.
24 Nov 2011
| CommentsDevelopers should be allowed to build on protected green belt land if local people agree, according to a report published by a think tank close to David Cameron.
23 Nov 2011
| CommentsPM faces questions over his purchase of land from public relations chief.
22 Nov 2011
| CommentsToo little finance, not too many regulations, is preventing housebuilding, argues Geoffrey Lean.
18 Nov 2011
| CommentsConservative ministers have voiced their opposition to the Government's reforms to planning laws, which would remove obstructions to building in the countryside.
18 Nov 2011
| CommentsHundreds of new homes are to be built in the heart of the South Downs National Park, amid howls of protest from local residents.
17 Nov 2011
| CommentsGovernment plans to give National Parks new duty of "sustainable development" could give developers “licence to build”.
16 Nov 2011
| CommentsCameron must not use “smokescreen” of planning as substitute for proper strategy to boost economy, National Trust warns.
14 Nov 2011
| CommentsTelegraph View: David Cameron should listen to people such as the National Trust's Dame Fiona Reynolds over protecting our cherished countryside.
14 Nov 2011
| CommentsHands Off Our Land: David Cameron’s attempts to reform the planning system are “contradictory and confusing”, MPs say today.
12 Nov 2011
| CommentsHands Off Our Land: Previously developed land is growing at a faster rate than it is being used up, according to a report.
12 Nov 2011
| CommentsHands Off Our Land: Government claims that planning delays are costing the economy billions of pounds every year are based on figures that are nearly two decades old.
10 Nov 2011
| CommentsClaims by the Government that planning delays are costing the economy billions of pounds every year are based on figures that are nearly two decades old.
10 Nov 2011
| CommentsEncased by concrete and with its green spaces and gardens under threat, London needs to look to the visionaries of its past to protect its future.
09 Nov 2011
| CommentsRelated Sections
In Hands Off Our Land
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