NEW planning guidelines, which will favour sustainable house-building and relax green-belt building rules have been announced.

The plans have been met by stiff opposition from East Lancashire communities, which have said the amendment will mean a ‘free for all’ for developers.

The changes to the Government’s planning policy framework have been introduced to make it easier for developers to apply for planning permission to meet housing demand.

Under the new regulations, plans will automatically be accepted unless the development’s negatives significantly outweigh the positives.

But Kathy Fishwick, secretary of the Rossendale Civic Trust, said that the changes should not necessarily offer less protection for important areas of East Lancashire.

She said: “If a local authority has its core strategy in place, and it has consulted on the appropriate areas for housing and industry, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

But Mrs Fishwick, who attended a meeting of Lancashire civic societies in Preston last weekend, said the true impact of the proposals would only be felt when ‘one or two’ significant test cases have been resolved.

“People will have to be more ‘clued-up’ about how the planning process works and cannot simply attend meetings and say that they just don’t want a particular application,” she added.

Greg Clark, minister for decentralisation and cities said the new rules would boost jobs, protect the countryside and help build homes for future generations.

He said: “The purpose of planning is to help make the way we live our lives tomorrow better than it is today. It supports growth to allow employers to create the jobs our constituents need. It protects what we hold dear in our matchless countryside and in the fabric of our history.

“It does so by taking power away from remote bodies and putting it firmly into the hands of the people of England.”