PLANS to build into the Green Belt are among the proposals to accomodate 3,000 new homes in Chiltern.

Chiltern District Council has been told by government advisors the new homes must be built by 2026 - and a third of them must be affordable.

And now the council is asking where would be the best place to put them all.

Gill Gowing, the council's director for planning and the environment, said councillors were limited in their options.

This is due to the Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the amount of Green Belt land in the district.

Yet all the plans say expansion into the Green Belt would be needed.

Option one would see building work concentrated on urban areas, including Amersham, Chesham, Great Missenden and Prestwood.

Other options were to target just Amersham and Chesham, or the two towns along with Chalfont St Peter.

The Newlands Park site, which is to be vacated by Bucks New University, is one of the areas the council could allow building on.

The final idea sees a dispersed pattern' of development through the district, which, like options two and three, would see Green Belt boundaries change.

Mrs Gowing said it was vital the public respond to the consultation.

She said: "It's really important because it is far easier for the government to override the plan if we haven't had an adequate public consultation.

"It makes our hand much stronger if we've had one. I would ask people to think carefully about the options."

She added she anticipated a "good response" from residents to the consultation, which starts on Monday and runs until August 11.

This week the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit announced a minimum of 28,900 new homes had to be built in the south east by 2026.

The plans mean 2,900 new dwellings have to be built in the Chiltern district by then.

A consultation on the plans will begin on Monday. For more information, contact the council's Planning Policy Team on 01494 732268.