Campaigners call for vote on South Lakeland housing plan
Campaigners have forced a council in south Cumbria to discuss whether to hold a vote on plans to build thousands of new homes.
South Lakeland District Council is finalising guidelines which will allocate enough land for 6,000 homes over the next 15 years.
A campaign has gathered more than 3,000 signatures objecting to the proposals and calling for a local vote.
Petitions with more than 1,000 signatures must be debated.
Dennis Reed, from the campaign group Green Spaces, said they object to the location of the new homes.
He said: "The government has recently said that councils should adopt a brownfield first policy.
"This council has got a brownfield nowhere policy. It's all greenfield sites and that is what we object to."
Peter Thornton, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said: " We have had eight years debating this, 14 consultations and the council has recently made the decision to go forward with this plan.
"The houses will be built to demand and a third of them will be affordable."
The council debate will be held in Kendal on Wednesday.