The last hundred years:
The National Trust and planning. Part One: the last hundred years

and why they are worried now:
The National Trust and planning. Part Two: Why we’re worried

The second article concludes:

“The country needs more homes and there’s no reason why the planning system shouldn’t change to help deliver those homes. But fiddling with the system without a coherent approach threatens more sprawl rather than ensuring delivery of new communities where they are needed. The result is the careless loss of countryside and of the distinctiveness of England’s towns and villages.

“We need a planning system for that delivers the homes we need, and works for the economy, society and our environment. Instead, we’re in danger of ending up with a service for big developers to get housing past local communities. No one is ever going to love planning but there are good reasons why it was invented over a hundred years ago, and those reasons haven’t fundamentally changed.”