Over 200,000 sign petition demanding planning reform in UK

A National Trust petition in the UK demanding a rethink the government's planning reform has been endorsed by 210,000 people.

Signatures were collected online, in local communities and at Trust properties and were handed in yesterday, the last day of the public consultation.

According to ministers the changes cut down the number of pages of policy from1,000 to 52, lending a boost to growth, giving communities greater say in their area and the environment.

However, critics have raised objections saying developers could get the right to build across large parts of rural England, which would ruin the countryside.

According to the head of the National Trust, overhauling planning rules was ''no magic bullet'' to boost economic growth. Sir Simon Jenkins said there was ''no evidence'' that relaxation of development rules would help the economy.

He told MPs looking at controversial government planning changes that there was a "massive" amount of brownfield land that could be used for construction.