A HAMPSHIRE Conservative MP has attacked her own Government’s controversial planning reforms, saying they threaten farmland in her constituency.

Caroline Nokes spoke out after Parliament’s green watchdog wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to reconsider the “unsatisfactory”

wording of the new policy.

Hampshire’s green campaigners welcomed the move, saying it had “huge concerns”

that green areas outside the New Forest and the South Downs, which are given special protection, could be under threat.

At the heart of the row over the new national planning policy framework, which has stirred opposition in Tory heartlands including within Hampshire County Council, is a “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, which critics say could be used to ride roughshod over local concerns.

Ms Nokes, the MP for Romsey and Southampton North, sits on the Environmental Audit Committee, which wrote to David Cameron.

She said she was concerned that the term “sustainable development” was “a bit vague”, saying it needed to strike a better balance between economic, social and environmental issues.

She also criticised the policy for not explicitly setting out a “brownfield first” policy which would prioritise previously developed land over green spaces.

She said: “In my constituency there is concern that we could lose some high quality farmland if there is not a very determined brownfield first policy.

“We are right in the front line of development.

“People are concerned about where the Government are going on this, and I share that concern.”

Southampton Test Labour MP Alan Whitehead, who also sits on the committee, said: “It does appear to be a significant weakening of the relationship between development and sustainability, so it’s assumed that something will happen, regardless of its actual place in the planning landscape.”

Mr Whitehead said he shared the concerns of Hampshire Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), which has been campaigning against the plans.

Caroline Dibden, of CPRE Hampshire, said she was “right behind” the MPs’ concerns.

She added: “The New Forest and South Downs are probably safe, but probably nowhere else – particularly built-up areas.

“The pressure for housing in the south-east is far more intense than anywhere else.”