A charity said it has “serious concerns” about “excessive and unsustainable” increased homebuilding targets across Berkshire.
The new Labour government told five of the six Berkshire councils that they must build more homes than previously planned last month.
The county’s councils must give permission for at least 7,400 homes every year, an increase of more than 40%.
The chairman of Berkshire’s Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) branch, Greg Wilkinson, said the targets are “far more than we can cope with”.
Bracknell – 563 (in 2018) to 767 a year
Reading – 878 to 1,023
Slough – 856 to 801
West Berkshire – 495 to 1,057
Windsor and Maidenhead – 866 to 1,341
Wokingham – 748 to 1,308
He claimed that some housing schemes already put forward demonstrate “the wrong sort of homes, in the wrong places” and would be “too big in scale”.
The proposals mean there will be a loss of “significant areas of our countryside”, including agricultural land, he added.
The Berkshire branch of CPRE opened in 1926, with the aim of protecting the county’s countryside and natural environment.
Mr Wilkinson said most new housing should be “focused on the big cities”.
The housing targets will be mandatory for councils, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said.
She admitted they “won’t be without controversy” but said they are essential in making housing more affordable.
