Hands Off Our Land: Planning inspectors ordered not to over-rule local people's views MPs and campaigners are concerned that the inspectorate will overturn more planning decisions under the new rules. Official figures show that last year a third of all appeals against local planning appeals - 5,194 out of 16,549 appeals - were overturned. In a Commons debate, Cheltenham Liberal Democrat MP Martin Horwood said he was worried there was that local plans would be overturned on appeal by the inspectorate. He said there could be "a slight risk that when local plans come to be examined in public, we will again see the influence of the Planning Inspectorate and elements of the local plans may be overturned." Mr Clark replied he had made it "crystal clear" to the Planning Inspectorate that any of its decisions had to be made on a "localist approach." He had asked the Planning Inspectorate to provide him with "sample" decisions to ensure that local plans were not over-ruled. He said he "expected decisions to be taken in that vein," adding: "I will also expect to see a sample of the decisions that are being taken, including after the examination of plans, to ensure that that is happening. On the basis of my direct discussions with the Planning Inspectorate, I am very confident that that is understood. Campaigners said there was a lingering concern that the views of local people about where development could take place would be ignored under the new NPPF. Neil Sinden, the CPRE's director of policy, said: "Unless there are explicit environmental safeguards, it could enable developers to ride roughshod over the countryside and the views of local people. By making these agencies a tool for promoting development, their critical role as champions of our landscape, wildlife and heritage is undermined. They do not exist to promote development; they are there to make sure any proposed development does not destroy our national treasures and environmental support structures. The new National Planning Policy Framework was unveiled at the end of last month. It included major new protections for the countryside after an outcry from countryside groups and The Daily Telegraph's Hands Off Our Land campaign.