PLANNING chiefs insist brownfield land capacity will be 'explored' as part of the local plan process – after being urged to prioritise building 7,340 homes on it instead of the green belt.

The authority's local plan preferred development option proposed 24,000 new homes in the borough over the next 20 years, including around 9,000 on the green belt.

However, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says there are enough brownfield sites – land which has been built on before – in Warrington to build a minimum of 7,342 homes, which they argue should be prioritised over green belt developments.

It added that at least 2,845 of these brownfield homes could be built within the next five years.

The group has reviewed local plans from across England for its annual State of the Green Belt report.

According to this study, local authorities are planning to allow almost 460,000 homes to be built on the country's green belt to help meet their housing targets.

In Warrington, the CPRE has identified plans to build 9,464 homes on green belt land.

The council said it 'looks forward to the positive participation' of the CPRE in the local plan consultation process.

A spokesman added: "The council is in the process of developing its new draft local plan for Warrington, which is programmed for publication in December this year.

"This will be followed by a period of consultation in early 2019.

"The local plan will outline housing and employment requirements for the next 15 to 20 years and consider the spatial distribution of the land required to meet this need.

"As part of this process, the plan will explore Warrington's brownfield land capacity, as well as other important issues."

The CPRE believes the public are being 'sold a lie' by developers keen to 'gobble up' protected green belt land to build homes that will be 'unaffordable to those most in need of them'.

It is now calling on the Government to address the affordable housing crisis with 'increasing urgency' by instead prioritising development on brownfield sites.