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A Kent MP has warned his party that it risks losing seats at the next election if it fails to listen to concerns over housing.
Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson said he had written to party chiefs after the shock by-election defeat in Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire to outline his concerns.
He has told party bosses that the unexpected defeat for the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats carried a message that people had reservations over the overhaul of the planning system.
Labour will seek to exploit Conservative divisions over the planning reform during an opposition day debate in the Commons later.
Mr Hendeson said: “I have outlined my views about what happened and it reflects the widespread concern amongst my colleagues that the proposals in the planning bill, are simply unacceptable to those of us who are concerned about the amount of housing Kent in general and in my constituency in particular have had to take in the last two decades.”
"Enough is enough and I personally have given my party a warning I won't be supporting the Bill. Many fear that it will be open season for developers across our green spaces.”
He said developers had failed to provide the necessary infrastructure.
“I don't just mean roads; we have not seen additional schools; we have a lack of GPS in the area.
"We have not got the infrastructure at this moment. The thought that we might get even greater targets is simply unacceptable.”
Asked if he thought the government was too focused on defending the so-called “red wall” seats at the expense of Tory strongholds in the south east, he said different areas had different needs and decisions needed to be more localised.
“We all have to follow the same guidance and the same planning rules.
"What we have got to do is change the whole system of planning by introducing regional planning rules.
"There should be organic growth to ensure that young people are able to buy their own homes, not huge housing development which all it does is suck in people from outside the county.”
