Green councillors were unsuccessful in their bid to shorten the length of the new South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP).

Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick District Councils last week agreed to press forward with the new planning document which will decide where some 30,000 homes will be built in the area over the next 25 years.

Already much behind schedule, the plan will run until 2050, with the next stage of the process seeing locals have their say on a shortlist of 36 potential new sites for housing.

But at last week's joint cabinet meeting between the local authorities, Green councillors attempted to consider shortening the scope of the SWLP.

The Greens wanted the plan to run only until 2042, which they say would have reduced the number of housing sites allocated locally and protect the green belt.

Warwick District Council is run by a Green-Labour coalition, meanwhile Stratford is in the hands of the Liberal Democrats.

The joint cabinet meeting - attended by leading councillors on both sides - voted down the proposal.

Green Party group leader Cllr Ian Davison, who proposed the 2042 end date, said: "Going to 2050 means about double the houses will be allocated on new developments.

"That means twice as much new green belt or other green field land will be scheduled for concreting over.

"We probably all agree that house prices locally are too high, preventing many residents from buying their own homes.

"This means building smaller, genuinely affordable homes is vital.

"However, fundamentally, to maximise their profit, developers build houses at the rate that they can sell without house prices falling."

Cllr Ian Davison led the push to shorten the new SWLP last week (image via Green Party)

The proposal would not have limited the number of houses required per year, but it would have stopped "this being locked in for the next 25 years, regardless of change of circumstance" the group said.

"So, yes, I am assuming that before 2042, sanity will prevail, and we will have proper solutions to solve the housing crisis," Cllr Davison added.

The Green proposal was voted down by four votes to two.

The new consultation on the SWLP will be launched in the new year.

As well as asking for views on the proposed housing sites, locals will also be asked specifically about where new gypsy and traveller sites should be built.

Cllr Lowell Williams voted to support Councillor Davison's proposal and later added: "Government dictate to us that we must build thousands of new houses – some of which we need and some we don't.

"However, it is vital that residents have a real democratic say in the parts that the councils can change – the length of the plan and which sites are put forward."

In his speech to the joint meeting Cllr Davison said estimates from council officers said 28,000 houses would need to be built on green belt land before 2050. He said the figures up to 2042 were 13,600.

The Greens' proposal would actually have seen locals asked about where the 2042 end date should be used, as part of the upcoming consultation.