Dover district council leader Paul Watkins says the Local Plan will safeguard the area from London authorities that plan to build tens of thousands of homes in east Kent.

A report for the Mayor of London Boris Johnson suggested that Dover, Canterbury and Thanet could take up to 115,000 homes between them to cope with demand in the South-East.

This is despite London deputy mayor for planning Edward Lister saying the capital could itself cope with its housing requirements.

Mr Watkins said: “We’re the only district in east Kent which has a formal Local Plan which identifies the number of houses which we require and the places where these houses could be built.

“They meet the needs of our local community, and we are not looking at trying to accommodate other people’s planning deficits.

“We’re not catering for their numbers. We have a formal plan and there will be no opportunity for meeting their shortfall...” - Cllr Paul Watkins

“We’re not catering for their numbers. We have a formal plan and there will be no opportunity for meeting their shortfall.”

Mr Watkins attended a meeting at City Hall in London about the housing crisis.

He said: “Edward Lister presented the case for London housing.

“His view was that they had enough space in London to be able to cope with their housing requirements.

“As far as I’m concerned, we totally agree with his statement and hope he keeps to it.”

But Mr Johnson’s report suggests the three east Kent council districts are ripe for far more homes than they have outlined in their Local Plans.

Mr Watkins assured the Mercury that the Dover district was safeguarded by its plan.

He said: “Other districts that don’t have a formal plan may well suffer because of that and have opportunistic planning applications coming in that could unbalance their communities.

“Our plan safeguards our local residents, and shows how being progressive and making early decisions pays off.”

Canterbury, which is still revising its Local Plan, may be one area that could accept much more housing for an expanding London commuter line.

However, Canterbury council leader John Gilbey’s message to the London authorities is “solve your own problems”.

He said: “If the London council need to build houses, then they should do that where they are and not just assume councils outside of London will accept them.”