GOVERNMENT proposals for 29,000 new homes to be built every year in the South West are "unrealistic and unsustainable", campaigners have warned.

The draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy proposes an increase of 592,460 homes up to 2026, an increase of 29 per cent above those first put forward.

The Government postponed the final version of the planning blueprint, which had been due at the end of last year, after a massive response during the consultation period.

The Department for Communnities and Local Government received about 35,000 representations from individuals and organisations to the plans – the largest-ever response to such a consultation.

Ministers are now preparing to publish the final report, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). CPRE trustee Georgie Bigg, who lives in the South West, said: "Plans for each of the English regions are meant to set out levels of development that are achievable and will not cause environmental damage.

"However, it increasingly seems that the Government are using them to deliver massive numbers of new homes with little regard for the impact that development will have on the quality and character of the countryside.

"The green spaces of the South West are important to those who live and work there, as well as being a big tourist attraction. They need to be protected from development.

"In the original draft plan, the housing target for the region was around 23,000 new houses a year. The Government has most recently proposed to increase this to over 29,000 a year.

"They need to listen to the concerns of the people living and working in the region and rethink this unrealistic and unsustainable target."

The scheme will determine house building targets across Devon and Cornwall.

Exeter would see 15,000 new homes built, with nearly 16,000 in Teignbridge. East Devon and Mid-Devon would have to accommodate 17,100 and 7,400 houses respectively.

In Cornwall, 13,400 houses are planned for North Cornwall, 10,900 in Carrick, 14,400 in Kerrier, 7,800 in Penwith, 6,000 in Caradon and 15,700 in Restormel.

Ministers have been urged to rethink the proposals in the wake of the recession and falling housing market.

"CPRE agrees that the South West region needs new homes, especially affordable ones," Mrs Bigg said. "But the current plan does not take the right approach.

"The Government must show they are listening to the people that will be affected by this plan and significantly scale back house-building levels."