School playing fields will be given special protection against being sold off for housing developments, after ministers agreed to water down their controversial planning reforms.
The Government will today unveil a revised version of the policy following opposition from heritage charities, green groups and The Daily Telegraph’s Hands Off Our Land campaign.
A draft of the document has been strongly criticised for supporting a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”.
Campaigners feared this could mean developers paving over vast swaths of the unspoilt English countryside.
It emerged last week that the document would be re-written to include a new definition of what “sustainable development” means to offer more balance between economic, environmental and heritage issues.
In a further concession to the Government’s critics, the document will also contain a specific protection for school playing fields and other public leisure facilities.
The Football Association had warned that talented footballers of the future would have nowhere to train if councils were allowed to sell off pitches. More than 80 per cent of the sport is played on publicly-owned land.
Sport England also urged the Government to re-think its proposals, arguing that weakening protection of sports facilities could limit the Olympic legacy by failing to safeguard facilities for future athletes.
Addressing these concerns, the text of the National Planning Policy Framework is now expected to say that “existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields, should not be built on unless the development is for alternative sports and recreational provision”.
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