JOHN PRESCOTT plans to strip local councils of their power to block building on greenfield sites as part of a policy to create more rural jobs.

He will target the Nimby (not in my backyard) mentality of shire councils who can halt any development by designating an area worthy of conservation. He wants to reduce the grounds on which they can reject new building.

The plan to create industrial jobs and the conversion of agricultural buildings into new homes was denounced last night by rural campaigners as a “pox on the countryside”.

Critics fear that Mr Prescott’s vision for rural Britain will simply create unsightly new buildings and conversions as villages are allowed to spread into the green belt. Ministers hope that the move will bring more jobs and prosperity to some of the most deprived rural areas.

For the first time, building projects will be given the go-ahead in the remotest rural villages, which have been strictly protected in planning laws.

Projects most likely to be approved will be those encouraging tourism and renewable energy, such as wind farms and bio-fuel refineries. Local authorities will be unable to reject developments “for the sake of the countryside” but instead must consider specific tests such as impact on character or beauty or the diversity of landscape or wildlife.

The plan for change is being finalised by Mr Prescott’s Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Ministers believe that it signals that the Government is intent on securing a future for rural areas, especially after reform of the Common Agriculture Policy.