CONTROVERSIAL plans to build tens of thousands more homes in Kent over the next 20 years has sparked fresh divisions between business and council leaders.

County council leaders have rejected calls by regional planners for higher targets and say no more than 28,000 homes should be built in the region per year, the equivalent of around 6,000 additional homes in Kent and a figure that is in line with Government planning guidance.

But at the same time, business leaders issued a blunt warning that Kent must have even more homes if its economic prospects are not to be "stifled".

Leaders of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) are calling for 36,000 homes to be built each year. That is 4,000 more than even the highest option for 32,000 homes regional planners have set out.

The stark differences of opinion come at a crucial time. Public consultation over the house-building targets that have been set out by the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) in the South East Plan ends on April 15 and both KCC and SEEDA’s views will be important in determining how many homes ought to be built.

Kent County Council’s Conservative leaders did not disguise their dismay at SEEDA’s suggestion that the plan fell short of the number of homes that Kent and the South East ought to have.

Cllr Alex King (Con), KCC cabinet member for regeneration, said higher house-building targets risked Kent becoming a huge dormitory commuter county.

"If we do not protect Kent’s interests, we will simply be swallowed up and become a large housing estate that would be a suburb of London. The quality of life would not be improved. We need to make clear that this is the highest possible figure we would accept."

KCC planners delivered a damning verdict on the plan, saying it was wrong to have "a narrow emphasis on a step change in housing supply".

Council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said SEEDA’s argument was flawed. "We need high quality jobs for the people who live here, without sucking in thousands more people."

But SEEDA, a quango responsible for boosting the region’s economy, said house prices would rocket unless something was done to increase the number of affordable homes.

SEEDA chief executive Pam Alexander said 36,000 homes a year were needed just to keep pace with current levels of economic growth. "It may seem a stark message but it is essential we spell out the clear conclusions...The proposals within the South East Plan are in danger of stifling the development of the south east and therefore the economic prospects of the UK as a whole."