GOVERNMENT plans to streamline the planning system and build three million homes by 2020 risk blighting Kent and other parts of the south east with American-style urban sprawl, countryside campaigners have warned.

Dr Hilary Newport, of the Kent Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) said Government reforms confirmed in the Queen’s Speech would place Kent and the south east under increasing pressure from development.

"We are already pushing at the boundaries of what the south east can accommodate so it is inconceivable to me that the Government can suggest there should be more homes. It is not just a case of finding the space for housing but the space needed for infrastructure. It is not just a question of money," she said.

"The planning system we have now has actually done a remarkable job in stopping the kind of unchecked urban sprawl that we have seen in America. We need a planning system that will direct development to where it is appropriate; frankly, [these reforms] will give us a system which will lead to inappropriate development."

She also questioned a proposal to give an independent quango the authority to decide on major infrastructure projects, such as airport expansion, power stations and windfarms, saying by-passing the existing system of public inquiries would mean local people had a less powerful voice.

"It is true big schemes can take a long time but they do so for the right reasons. People talk about the time it has taken to expand Heathrow Airport but isn’t it right that we pay attention to the needs and concerns of local people and that land acquisition is done sensitively?" she said.

The Government is proposing a Homes and Communities Agency to deliver more social and affordable housing and to streamline the planning system to accelerate the rate at which both housing and infrastructure projects are built.