NPPF could threaten English countryside, warn Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPS

In a letter published by the Daily Telegraph 45 MPs including Conservative Zac Goldsmith and Liberal Democrat Martin Horwood called for "a commitment to genuinely sustainable development that does not prioritise short-term economic interests over long-term quality of life and wellbeing".

"An effective planning system is central to protecting our rural areas from urban sprawl and inappropriate, sporadic development," it said.

The letter acknowledges and supports the introduction of a simpler system but calls for a number of changes to be made to the draft NPPF. It refers to the "need to use suitable brownfield land for development before green fields in order to prevent unsustainable urban sprawl" and  "the intrinsic value of the ordinary, undesignated countryside which is loved so much by the local communities we represent".

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England  (CPRE)  has been campaigning for the draft NPPF to be changed. "With this intervention, MPs of both coalition parties have shown how the problems with the draft planning framework can easily be resolved without putting at risk any of the government’s objectives," a CPRE statement said.

"If the draft framework remains unchanged, however, the issue is unlikely go away quietly." Said Shaun Spiers, chief executive of CPRE. "In the longer run, if there is not a legitimate framework for decisions on land use, planning battles will erupt across the country, holding up the very development the country needs."

Sir Bob Kerslake, head of the civil service, confirmed this month that the presumption in favour of sustainable development would remain despite opposition.

The draft NPPF is widely expected to be published alongside the Chancellor's Budget on the 21 March and will replace over 1,200 pages of planning policy guidance with approximately 52 pages. Its aim is to streamline the system and stimulate economic growth.