CONTROVERSIAL house-building targets for Kent and the south east will be fixed at a crucial meeting next Wednesday.

The question of how many houses will be built in Kent over the next 20 years will come a step closer to being answered.

The 112 members of the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) will meet for a crunch vote on proposals that would see 28,900 homes built in the region between now and 2026.

The house-building target is the most contentious aspect of what is known as the South East Plan. Environmental campaigners and the county council fear large swathes of green field sites could be swallowed up by developers.

Although the figure of 28,900 homes is lower than the 36,000 that SEERA had originally included in its options, the potential impact on parts of Kent will be significant.

Both Ashford and parts of the Thames Gateway in north Kent have both been earmarked as “growth areas” by the Government as part of its long-term masterplan to address a shortage of homes.

SEERA members are facing an 11th-hour appeal to back more homes and a warning that if they do not, the repercussions could be “devastating.”

A campaign group made up of business chiefs, developers and charities and expert planners says a lower target of 28,900 homes will not solve housing shortages. It has sent an open letter to all 112 SEERA members appealing for a re-think.

Michael Roberts, of the CBI, said: “The assembly has a unique opportunity to address the chronic housing shortage facing the region. Members are proposing a figure which flies in the face of their own evidence and makes neither social nor economic sense.”

The group - known as The Campaign for More and Better Homes - says SEERA has overlooked the fact that in its own survey, 74 per cent of people supported more housing.

About two thirds of SEERA’s 112 members are local councillors drawn from the region’s different local authorities, including the 12 districts, Kent County Council and Medway Council.