Local people's views 'being ignored by planning inspectors in favour of developers' Sir Simon Jenkins, the chairman of the National Trust, told The Daily Telegraph that the inspectorate was having to rule in favour of developers because of the strictures of the NPPF. He said: "The Planning Inspectorate is required to adjudicate on particular cases with Government policy in mind - which is a combination of public documents and Government ministers' statements. The Inspectorate has to do what the Government tells them to do. Sir Simon said the Government should give councils more time to develop local plans which set out where development can take place, because they were being delayed by communities being unable to agree housing targets with town halls. A Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "This Government is supporting local decision-making and sustainable development. New community rights ensure local people have a bigger say on development then ever before through neighbourhood and local plans. There very strong protections are in place to safeguard the Green Belt and protect other important areas, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We have been increasing Green Belt protection through the Localism Act, by the revocation of top-down Regional Strategies which were deleting Green Belt in many parts of the country. Councils should focus on getting up-to-date locally decided plans in place, and seven out of ten (72 per cent) already have published plans. This compares with only one in six councils having Core Strategies six years after the top-down 2004 Planning Act.