NEW house-building requirements introduced by the government will put acres of Fareham countryside under the bulldozer, a council leader says.

The town must find space to cram in another 1,500-2,000 homes, doubling the number of greenfield houses required.

The plan has angered councillors as the current annual need for dwellings will be raised from 487 to 571.

Council leader Seán Woodward will meet with the Secretary of State to argue that the borough should not be expected to cope with an ever-rising volume of housing.

Councillor Woodward said: “Myself and the people of Fareham are highly angered about this.

“This extra housing will take away the character of the borough as developers will be able to pick and choose what greenfield sites they build on.

“As well as this, the work preparing the local plan has been forced to be put on hold.”

Councillor Keith Evans, executive member for planning and development, said: “We responded to the government by rejecting the proposals as unreasonable and unachievable in the short term.

“It fell on deaf ears.

“All this will take additional time and leaves the council exposed to even more unwelcome applications.”

If Fareham fails the housing delivery test, the annual number of dwellings could go up even more to 653 per annum for the next five years, causing more impact on the suspended draft local plan.