THE Housing Minister has fuelled new fears about the level of development that the Government wants to see in Oxfordshire.

Yvette Cooper dismissed the number of new homes being proposed for Oxfordshire in the South East Plan as "bonkers".

And she was immediately accused of "prejudging" the outcome of a four-month public inquiry into future development in Oxfordshire and the South East.

Ms Cooper, a close ally of Gordon Brown, signalled the depth of the Government's unhappiness with housing figures set out for Oxfordshire in the key planning document.

And she made clear that the new Brown-led Government wanted significantly more building to meet Oxfordshire's chronic housing shortages.

But her readiness to dismiss the figures in advance of the independent planning inspectors' report has caused widespread anger.

Her comments in the House of Commons immediately sparked warnings that the Government could end up facing a judicial review over the Oxfordshire homes issue.

Ms Cooper criticised Seera (the South East England Regional Assembly), chaired by Oxfordshire County Council leader, Keith Mitchell, for proposing cuts in the number of new homes built each year.

Under the draft South East Plan, drawn up by Seera, Oxfordshire would aim to provide an average of 2,360 extra homes per year over the next two decades - a mix of new build and conversions.

But this would be significantly fewer than the 3,538 new homes which were provided across the county in 2005/6, according to new figures.

Ms Cooper told MPs: "New housing is now at its highest rate for 20 years but we need to go further, given the serious pressures on affordability.

"Regional assemblies also need to do more. That is made harder in the South East because of the approach of the South East England Regional Assembly, which is arguing, unfortunately, for cuts in the level of house building.

"We have an ageing and growing population, with more people living alone. We need to go further and build more homes for the next generation. It is not fair on them if we do not. Frankly, the approach of the Conservatives in the South East is bonkers."

She made her views known with the outcome of a lengthy public inquiry into Seera's housing figure expected next month.

The regional assembly had spent more than three years drawing up the South East Plan, with detailed submissions from local councils and costly public consultations, with most households in central Oxfordshire leafleted.

Independent planning inspectors then examined the plan in public from last November to March, with hearings held across the South East.

The minister's comments will have confirmed the worst fears of those who had warned that the Government has already made up its mind to build on Green Belt land.

Mr Mitchell said: "It seems that the Government has prejudged its response to the inspectors' report.

"I really do not think the Minister for Housing should be seen to prejudge the outcome of a report by independent inspectors before she has even read it.

"If we were to be charitable towards her, it could be said that perhaps she is expecting to be in some different post and it will not be her making the judgement. But I am very surprised that she has spoken as she has."

He warned that the minister's intervention could see the Government being challenged in the courts if it tried to impose extra housing on Oxfordshire.

"If the Government is saying what it wants to do about the inspectors' report before it has read it, then it is putting itself in a position where it may be challenged by judicial review.

"Our plan was drawn up on the basis of objective evidence and consultation.

"There is no real evidence that simply building more houses makes it more affordable to buy a home."

Andrew Smith, Labour MP for Oxford East, backed the minister's comments and said: "The figure Seera is working to doesn't meet the demand and need in central Oxfordshire.

"I want that overturned and replaced with more realistic numbers, so people who desperately need housing in Oxfordshire can get it."

Mr Smith accused Oxfordshire County Council of failing to recognise the "acute and desperate" housing need in Oxford and the surrounding area.

The South East Plan proposes that new homes in Oxfordshire should be centred around Bicester, Didcot and Grove.

Oxford City Council and landowner Magdalen College were among those urging the planning inspectors to allow the expansion of Oxford on to some areas of the Green Belt.