Sussex councillors have called on the Government to fund improvements to water, sewage and transport services before thousands of new homes are built.

The South-East of England Regional Assembly wants to build 705 new homes annually, for the next 20 years, in Mid Sussex, towards the 600,000 new homes needed in the South-East by 2026.

Mid Sussex District Council has spoken out against the plans.

It said such a volume of housing would ruin the character and environment of the area and place extra pressure on an already stretched infrastructure.

Cabinet members said roads, transport and sewerage services were already struggling to meet current demands - and the drought highlighted the problem of water shortages.

They said Government funding was required to improve these services to take account of any new housing.

Planning and economic development councillor Susan Seward said: "Any new homes which are built must be served by the necessary infrastructure.

"This needs to be in place before the new homes are occupied. If the Government expects such a high level of growth it should be prepared to invest in our infrastructure."

Thursday, June 15, 2006