David Cameron: 'Landscape is a national treasure'. Photo: Moritz Hager/World Economic Forum CC-BY-SA-2.0

The head of the National Trust has urged the charity’s members and supporters to continue pressuring the coalition Government over concerns about changes to planning laws.

Dame Fiona Reynolds said it is essential the Government does not underestimate the strength of feeling as Prime Minister David Cameron moved to head off the building disquiet over the proposed planning framework.

Mr Cameron wrote to Dame Fiona saying the British landscape is a national treasure and that planning decisions need to balance environmental, social and economic concerns.

Critics of the proposed national planning policy framework say it puts green belt land at risk of development in the cause of economic growth and that it fundamentally alters the balance in favour of encouraging building rather than protecting the environment.

The National Trust has been at the forefront of opposition to the proposals.

Mr Cameron said: “I absolutely share and admire your commitment to the countryside, and wholeheartedly agree that policymakers have an enormous responsibility to our environment. Both as Prime Minister, as a rural constituency MP, and as an individual, I have always believed that our beautiful British landscape is a national treasure.

“I believe that sustainable development has environmental and social dimensions as well as an economic dimension, and we fully recognise the need for a balance between the three. Indeed, the purpose of the planning system as a whole, and of our proposals for it, is to achieve such a balance.”

National Trust director general Dame Fiona said the Mr Cameron’s assurances open the way to constructive dialogue on the details of the framework. Consultation on the document is due to end on 17 October.

“Our primary concern for the planning system is that it should be a neutral framework which balances the needs of society, the environment, as well as the economy,” she added. “It is a great relief to hear from the Prime Minister that there is no intention to change this overriding purpose.

Dame Fiona Reynolds: 'Essential the Government does not underestimate the strength of feeling'

“We will now do everything in our power to help shape the national planning policy framework into a robust system which enables the people making the decisions to guide good development to the right places.

“Planning Minister Greg Clark has invited us to work with him to ensure the detail of the document reflects this brief, and we are keen to do so.

“The trust will continue to encourage people to add their voices to our petition, as it is essential the Government does not underestimate the strength of feeling among the population. As well as working with Mr Clark, we will be responding formally to the consultation.”

Online campaigning group 38 Degrees has also mobilised opposition to the plans, under the banner of Save Our Countryside, gathering almost 60,000 signatures so far.

However, it was clear from Mr Cameron’s letter that one of the central stumbling blocks to agreement over the new plans, the presumption in favour of development, will remain.

“We must ensure that the planning system supports our objectives for growth and employment, as well as building environmental and social capital,” he wrote. “That is why we believe the presumption is an important part of the new planning guidance. Where businesses are seeking to relocate or expand they should be able to do so.”

He also maintained present planning laws were instrumental in holding back new housebuilding.

“Our aim is to secure a planning system that supports growth and prosperity and protects the interests both of today’s communities and of generations to come,” the Prime Minister added.

Mr Cameron has also agreed to meet representatives of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The campaign’s chief executive Shaun Spiers said: “The Prime Minister’s commitment to meet with us is an encouraging sign that the Government is starting to take our concerns about their planning reforms seriously.

“We welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to local planning. But, in reducing existing planning guidance, many valuable policies like the brownfield first approach and recognition of the intrinsic value of ordinary countryside have been lost.

“It’s critical the Prime Minister makes absolutely clear that these reforms are not about making the planning system simply a tool of economic policy.”