The Barker review of land use planning, chaired by Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, has found Britain has twice the amount of “protected” land as other industrial countries, despite having one of the highest densities of population.

While stressing that the report would not recommend “concreting over the green belt”, sources say it will urge ministers to re-examine whether too much land is protected from development, and to push local authorities into allowing more projects through.

A previous report by Barker for the Treasury said that between 70,000 and 120,000 more houses should be built each year than at present.

She received evidence that a quarter of major planning applications were rejected by local authorities, up from 13% in the late 1990s. Ikea, the Swedish retailer, had plans to build 20 new stores in Britain but has been struggling to obtain planning permission.

Only 8.3% of the land area of England is designated as urban, while 12.9% is green belt, 7.6% national parks, 15.6% areas of outstanding natural beauty, 6.2% special areas of conservation, 4.7% special protection areas and 8.2% sites of special scientific interest.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England says that any shake-up of the planning regime could have “major implications for the rate at which our countryside is lost to new development”.

The Barker review’s findings could conflict with Brown’s determination to present himself as “green” in his pre-budget report on Wednesday.

The report will include an increase in air passenger duty, which is now just £5 for cheap flights to Europe, rising to a maximum of £40 for business and first-class long-haul flights. He is also expected to signal an increase in vehicle excise duty on 4x4s and other high emission vehicles and a small rise in the excise duty on petrol.

Brown is also set to change the laws on copyright, toughening enforcement powers on CD and DVD piracy. The measures follow a review he commissioned from Andrew Gowers, former editor of the Financial Times.

Explaining his proposals in an article in The Sunday Times today, Gowers makes clear the enforcement of intellectual property rights is critical to the success of the creative industries.

The Treasury acknowledges that for the music and film industries, losses to piracy and counterfeiting amount to the equivalent of 20% of turnover. And it is estimated that the number of jobs lost in the UK due to counterfeiting is more than 4,000.

Flights threat

CHEAP flights are under threat as European Union officials this weekend finalise plans to give airlines “carbon quotas” that limit emissions.

Passengers will have to pay up to £27 extra per return flight to cover the impact their trip has on the climate.

If any airline wants to break its annual emissions limit, it will have to pay for an increased allowance from other companies. Airlines that stay within the limit may not have to raise prices.

The scheme still needs to be approved by the European parliament. Flights threat

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