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Architect Richard Rogers has hit out at the government鈥檚 proposed changes to the planning system, saying they will lead to unsustainable urban sprawl which could 鈥渟car the country for generations.鈥�

In an interview with the Times, the former chair of the Urban Task Force said that the proposals in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) could damage both cities and the countryside, and lead to cities such as Bristol and Bath or Milton Keynes and Birmingham merging into one another.

Lord Rogers said: 鈥淐ities and countryside are two sides of the same coin 鈥� we need to conserve both. The reason we want beautiful hills and scenery is because we often live in cities and see them as our safety valve and escape.

鈥淚f the [NPPF] framework is not greatly improved it will lead to the breakdown and fragmentation of cities and neighbourhoods as well as the erosion of the countryside.鈥�

He added that policy should focus on the re-use of existing land, to regenerate and repair sites, which he said was 鈥渟o much more sustainable.鈥�

The government has committed to re-looking at the NPPF in the light of the concerted campaign from environmental groups against it. The framework proposes introducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development on sites where local plans are silent, indeterminate or out of date. It also calls for more land to be allocated to housing.

Rogers told the Times: 鈥淲e already have cities beginning to merge, it鈥檚 scary. You only need a few house to link up conurbations. We could see Milton Keynes and Birminhgam or Bath and Bristol linking together.鈥�

He used the south of France as an example of where  inadequate planning control had turned a 鈥渉eavenly鈥� place into a 鈥渘ightmare鈥�. He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about lack of control and care.The place has been spoilt, trashed. We don鈥檛 want that happening to Devon, Cornwall or the Lake District.鈥�

The government has repeatedly stated that the NPPF does not reduce the planning protections for green belt land or sites in National Parks