This is not an effort to promote a policy of ribbon development or the eruption of satellite suburbs. Protecting agricultural land is one matter, but, given the wide-scale planting of some of the best land in the country, it seems that excessively restrictive criteria are being used to refuse planning permission to some applicants. It is essential that a proper balance is struck between rural and urban development, particularly in light of the national spatial strategy, in order to ensure that people with connections to the countryside will be allowed to build houses there, even if they work in offices rather than on the land. Delays and inconsistencies in the planning process are undermining the housing market and deterring multinational investment.