THE Council for the Protection of Rural England has welcomed reports the government is preparing to abandon plans for hundreds of ‘investment zones’.

Paul Miner, acting director of campaigns and policy at CPRE, the countryside charity, said:  " ‘Good riddance to investment zones. We’re delighted the government is reported to have seen sense. Investment zones as planned would have been nothing less than an environmental disaster riding roughshod over local democracy.

"If the rumours are true, it’s another step further from Liz Truss’ disastrous deregulation agenda – but the reality is, we still don’t know what the government plans to do."

Concerns had been raised that councillors would have little or no say about which parts of the country could be made Investment Zones which could strip away planning regulations and provide tax breaks for developers and businesses.

Cornwall Council wanted 16 sites to be classed as Investment Zones, which would provide tax breaks and relax planning rules.

The council submitted its bid for the zones last year after a Government invitation.

They included Penryn University Campus, Falmouth Docks, the Pydar development in Truro and Langarth Garden Village.

Among the benefits that would be provided for investment zones are business rates relief, employer National Insurance contributions relief, stamp duty relief, a streamlined planning process, and priority for infrastructure funding.

However Mr Miner said the investment zones were always a 'terrible' idea.

‘Investment zones, which would have ripped up planning regulations in a mad dash for growth, were always a terrible idea," he said.

The government has not officially confirmed that the idea is being scrapped.