Proposed changes to planning laws could mean disaster for rural areas, it has been warned.

Campaign to Protect Rural England chief executive Shaun Spiers told the Dorset group’s annual meeting at Cerne Abbas that the presumption in favour of building would put many rural areas at risk of unwelcome development.

He warned that it would leave local councillors powerless, in many cases, to object.

“The planning system is not perfect. It is often slow, but sometimes you need time to take important decision, rather than be rushed into saying yes by developers,” he said.

Mr Spiers told a packed village hall that many aspects of the government’s planning changes were welcome, including slimming down around a thousand pages to just 52.

“We support having a planning framework which people can understand, but often planning issues are complex and we don’t make them simple by changing the words in the guidance.”

He said he was also upset that local opinion was being undermined by the legislation.

“The government has dropped the commitment to give the community the right of appeal. Is it right that a developer can appeal over and over again and only has to win once to get what they want, but local people have no right of appeal against that?”

Mr Spiers said it was CPRE’s opinion, and that of legal planning experts, that the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework would weaken the protection for the countryside and lead to a loss of local control.

He appealed for others to join CPRE in opposing the new framework.

He also challenged the government’s belief that relaxing planning laws promoted growth: “Some of the most notable countries who tried this approach are Greece, Ireland and Spain – countries which are now in financial difficulties and have thousands of empty, unaffordable homes and business,” he said.

Dorset CPRE chairman Richard Nicholls called on the branch to re-double efforts to increase its membership in the year ahead.

He said the organisation was one of the few to stand up for the countryside and against poor planning, but relied on a strong membership to achieve that.

During the meeting Dr John Larkin, from Wareham, was presented with the national Countryside Medal by branch President Terry Stewart.

The award was given for Dr Larkin’s years of voluntary work for CPRE.