KENNET District Council is on a collision course with Wiltshire County Council over the number of new houses to be built.

Kennet is to press the county council to increase the number of new homes to be built in the district and reduce the amount of land earmarked for businesses.

The county council has said in its Structure Plan, which covers development in the county until 2016, that Kennet should be the district which has the lowest number of new houses built.

The county council said no more than 5,250 homes should be built in Kennet by 2016.

A total of 3,829 homes have been built or are waiting to be built, leaving 1,421 to be built in Kennet by 2016.

But Kennet District Council says this is not enough and it is particularly concerned that it will affect the number of affordable homes to be built for people on low incomes.

Councillors on Kennet's planning policies executive committee decided to lobby the county council to increase the number of homes to be built in Kennet by 500, bringing the total to 5,750.

Brad Fleet, Kennet's director of community services, told councillors that the council's strategy of having 50 per cent of new housing developments as affordable housing would dry up without the increase of 500 homes.

He said: "If the district does not have an extra 500 homes there will be an increase in demand for a restricted amount of housing which will increase house prices and remove most of the housing out of the affordable bracket.

"Coupled with the changes in Government funding the council's ability to promote the provision of affordable housing will be greatly impaired."

Kennet is also at loggerheads with the county council over the county's proposed allocation of land for businesses, offices and factories.

The county council wants to earmark 60 hectares of land for employment use in Kennet. A total of 52 hectares has been or will be built on by 2011.

Kennet says the remaining eight hectares is too much and it is to lobby the county council to reduce the total amount to 55 hectares.

Mr Fleet said the reduction was needed because Kennet does not believe there will be the take-up of land by businesses.

Existing undeveloped land for employment use in Kennet is at Nursteed Road, Devizes, Marlborough Road, Pewsey, Gort Road, Devizes, and Salisbury Road, Marlborough.

He said: "It would appear that the land provision by the county council is very generous.

"An over-provision of employment land may not necessarily be regarded as a problem as it could provide a safeguard against loss of existing employment sites and provide for any unforeseen opportunities which might arise.

"However, there should be a realistic expectation that the sites will be developed. To date, employment development has been slow in the district and investors are reluctant to undertake speculative development in what they consider to be an area of low demand."

He said if land was not built on by companies it could lead to housing developers pressing for the land to be reallocated for housing.

Devizes Guardians councillor Jeff Ody said he thought Kennet District Council had not done enough to try to attract companies to move to the district.

Pewsey councillor Anne Hayhoe was concerned about reducing the amount of land for employment use and she was the only councillor on the committee to vote against the recommendation to lobby the county council to reduce the employment land allocation.

She said: "There are not enough job opportunities in Kennet."

The committee also agreed to lobby the county council to include Devizes in the Structure Plan as a town where a railway station could be located. Corsham and Wootton Bassett are named as towns where railway stations could be built.