REGIONAL planners are claiming a huge public consultation exercise over controversial house-building targets for Kent has proved a success - even though less than two per cent of householders responded.

The South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) says that of the 3.8million questionnaires it sent to householders in the region about its plans, 64,000 were returned - a response rate of 1.6 per cent.

The mailshot cost the taxpayer in the region of £200,000.

While that is higher than the industry standard set for direct mailing responses, it still represents only about one in 60 of all residents.

Planners are not yet saying what the public’s verdict on its house-building targets has been but in public meetings held throughout Kent during a three-month long exercise, there was widespread hostility to all three options.

A report setting out a breakdown of opinions will be presented to members of SEERA in mid-June.

The questionnaires asked for views over three house-building options for Kent and the south east. They are 25,000 homes a year; 28,000 homes a year and 32,000 homes a year. The last of these represents a target of some 640,000 homes over the next 20 years, the lifetime of the plan.

SEERA chairman Cllr Nick Skellett said: "We are delighted with the level of response to our consultation. This was the most ambitious attempt to engage the public in regional plannning ever made. Our efforts to reach as many people as possible have generally been successful."

SEERA has also revealed that 2,646 separate formal responses also came from councils, interest groups and members of the public. It also commissioned pollsters to interview 10,000 residents and held more than 100 public meetings.