THE Government's plans to build nearly 10,000 more homes in the former Avon area than previously outlined will be debated at a public meeting in Whitchurch.

Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils had accepted that 106,000 homes needed to be built over the next 18 years. But the figure was increased last month to 115,350, despite the property slump.

The Whitchurch area alone will have to find room for 8,000 new homes – a rise of 2,000 – and the figure for Keynsham is 3,000.

Now Conservatives have organised a public meeting for everyone in Bath and North East Somerset affected by the housing targets in the South West Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). It will be held in Whitchurch Village Community Association Hall on Bristol Road on September 19 at 7pm.

Council leader Francine Haeberling will be there along with local councillors. The meeting will be chaired by Conservative parliamentary candidate for North East Somerset Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Local councillors have said they thought the targets were "undeliverable and undesirable", arguing that adequate roads, schools and other facilities would not be in place to cope with so many new homes.

They believe more housing – particularly affordable housing – is essential to the prosperity of the region and the council was keen to work with the Government to deliver the original figure of 15,500 homes for the district. But concerns were raised when the total jumped to 21,300, with many of the new houses having to be built on green-belt land. Only areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, such as the land in the Chew Valley, will escape development.

Councillors are urging as many people as possible to attend the meeting to air their views on the RSS so that local politicians can make strong representations to Government on behalf of residents.

In the Whitchurch area, Councillor Peter Edwards (Con, Publow and Whitchurch) said he was horrified by the announcement that 8,000 new homes must be built in the area. He said: "This is an enormous number of houses to build in the Whitchurch area. Without vast improvements to infrastructure I cannot see how these figures are realistic. There simply aren't the roads and amenities to cope.

"But more than that, these proposals include removing green-belt restrictions around this area, meaning that much of the natural beauty of the area will be lost.

"I completely understand that for our region to prosper we need more houses built, and there will always have to be compromises, but we must ensure that local people have a say in the matter. So many residents I have spoken with are simply aghast at the 8,000-homes figure, and I ask all those concerned to come to this public meeting so that we can tell the Government loud and clear this is unacceptable and unobtainable."

Bath and North East Somerset is the latest area to launch a fight the Government's plans. Last month, Dundry Residents' Action Group launched a campaign to stop a proposed new town of more 9,000 homes being built on green-belt land stretching from the A38 at Dundry, near the Barrow Tanks, to the A370 Long Ashton bypass to Ashton Vale.