John Prescott's Department has recently published new planning guidelines on countryside development, with small print that weakens existing planning protection against building on Suffolk's rural acres. David Ruffley MP warned that this would weaken local council's ability to protect against unwanted development. By contrast, Conservatives nationally have pledged to make it easier to create new Green Belts across the country, including in Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and surrounding areas.

Mr Ruffley explained:

'We already knew that John Prescott was planning to let rip with his bulldozer over England's Green Belt. Now he has our local farmland in his sights, by weakening the ability of St Edmundsbury and Mid Suffolk District council to protect our communities from unsustainable and unwanted development.

'Mr Prescott's new policy will downgrade the protection of farmland. This will open the floodgates for a barrage of attempts by developers to cover some of our most beautiful and valuable countryside with concrete. As we have seen just recently in the area councils need the power to prevent unwanted development. Labour just wants to mitigate for their failure to stop the rural depression in agriculture by bulldozing what's left of it. The Government should address the causes of the crisis in the agricultural economy and focus on promoting brownfield development, farm diversification, and the regeneration of our market towns.

'By contrast, Conservatives nationally have pledged to make it easier to create new Green Belt protection. We want to allow local communities to set up new Green Belts around towns and villages that are in danger of over-development and urban sprawl.'