That is the unanimous message to Warwick District Council by the Kenilworth Society.

Opinions were voiced at the society's meeting last week where Sally Jones, senior planner at Warwick District Council, set out the council's evolving ideas on the strategy to identify land for new housing and jobs to 2026.

Traditionally the green belt has acted as a buffer against the merger of neighbouring towns.

During the meeting, members of the society pointed out that just half a mile of green belt separates Kenilworth from Coventry and called for guarantees that the Crackley triangle would not be eroded by future development.

Mrs Jones stressed that nothing had yet been decided and a final version of the strategy was not due until autumn 2010.

She added that although there were once many post-industrial sites suitable for redevelopment in the region, there are now few.

She said that new development was now occurring on small sites within the urban area which were yielding no affordable housing.

She then went on to explain that the future supply of affordable housing was critically dependant on larger sites of mixed development where developers are obliged to blend affordable and social housing with their mainstream product.

This meant that looking to 2026, rural land may have to be re-zoned for housing.

While there is unrestricted rural land in the south of the region, the land surrounding housing target areas of Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth is classified as Green Belt.

Kenilworth Society member Michael Synott said: "Anger was expressed at the spreading trend to redevelop large garden areas for housing.

"According to one person in the audience, elderly local residents are being pestered by developers determined to acquire large gardens for housing development."

Mrs Jones said that under present regulations it was difficult to resist this form of development as gardens were regarded as brownfield or reusable urban land which is officially preferred for new housing.

She added that in future planners might be willing to grant a neighbourhood density restriction which would limit the number of dwellings permitted in a specific area.

*Residents are urged to respond to the consultation exercise by July 10.