Planning 'quick fix' reform opposed

The Government should not resort to a "quick-fix" solution to the economic downturn by rolling back planning restrictions while using the current crisis as a "smokescreen", the National Trust has warned.

Changes to planning laws that result in short-term "free-for-alls" will be regretted further down the line, director-general of the charity Dame Fiona Reynolds argued. She also disputed that relaxing red tape would necessarily stimulate the economy in any case.