A UKIP MEP has expressed her fears for the future of the greenbelt in the wake of continued plans for new housing.

Thousands of new homes across South Gloucestershire have been outlined in the latest draft of the West of England Joint Spatial Plan (JSP) which features targets for the next 20 years.

Last month, a think tank, Centre for Cities, claimed that the Government cannot address the housing crisis and tackle the targets without developing in the protected areas of the countryside.

UKIP MEP Dr Julia Reid, who represents the South West and Gibraltar, responded to the claims by saying that “under no circumstances” should the greenbelt be sacrificed for building at the detriment of the environment “simply to appease those who are unwilling to support the implementation of a sensible migration policy.”

She added: “They claim, that ruling out development on the green belt is a luxury the Government cannot afford if it is serious about tackling the housing crisis. What they should be asking themselves is; why do we have a housing crisis to begin with?

“For starters, immigration into the UK is a major factor in the demand for housing. Government figures revealed that almost half of new homes built in the next five years will go to migrants.

“Once we’ve left the EU, we can implement a sensible migration policy to control NET migration figures, thus vastly reducing the reducing the demand for housing, at which point we may not need as many as 85,000 homes in the West of England area.”

She said that, regardless of migration policy, planners should look to refrain from developing on greenfield sites while brownfield sites are still available, adding that in the West of England, there should be a focus on reclaiming old and unused buildings for development.