A SENIOR county councillor has sparked controversy by saying people should be given the chance to back plans for more homes to be built in Kent.

Cllr Derek Smyth, the deputy leader of the opposition Labour group at Kent County Council, said it was wrong that people were to be deprived of the chance of airing their views on a plan for even more homes in Kent and the rest of the region.

His comments, made during a full council meeting at County Hall were directed at KCC’s ruling Tories, who were instrumental in forcing SEERA – the South East England Regional Assembly – to backtrack on its plans to significantly increase house-building targets over the next 20 years.

Regional planners had wanted up to 36,000 homes built each year in the South East – 6,000 more than the Government’s existing target but have been forced to scale back those proposals.

A major public consultation on the strategy gets underway early in the New Year.

Cllr Smyth told county councillors at KCC’s full council meeting: “Frankly, it is an insult to the people of Kent to say to them ‘we will only consult on the three options that the Tories have dictated’.

“People have a right to be consulted on the full range of options and not be dictated to.”

The new options that will go out to public consultation include a strategy now include one for a far lower target of 25,500 homes built a year, while the 36,000 figure has been dropped.

Cllr Smyth insisted: “The 36,000 option was equally legitimate in forecasting and planning terms.”

The debate on SEERA’s controversial housing strategy turned acrimonious when the ruling Tory administration at County Hall called for the assembly to be scrapped.

Opposition parties accused the Tories of electoral opportunism by linking the abolition call with a general report backing SEERA’s revised targets.

The charge was denied by KCC leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart (Con). He said: “This is not a party political issue. It is about standing up for Kent.”