LEADING county councillor Bill Chapple cautiously welcomed the Government's suggested new figures for more homes in the county.

The annual new number suggested for Bucks, including Milton Keynes, between now and 2006, is 3,120, which is almost exactly what Buckinghamshire county councillors originally said they were prepared to accept. The suggested annual figure for the whole of the south east is 39,000.

Local authorities have until February 12, to make their feelings about the figures known to deputy prime minister John Prescott, who will make a final decision on what the numbers will be and where they will go.

A joint panel of district and county councillors from Bucks got together last Friday to talk the figures through.

Cllr Chapple, who chaired the meeting at County Hall, said that some other councils in the south east would not be happy about the numbers they were expected to build and would say so.

"We must make sure no more are pushed onto Bucks," he said. He said the figure of 3,210 should be the upper limit for Bucks.

Milton Keynes councillor Roger Bristow said counties in the south of England would use the recent flooding they had suffered as an excuse for saying projected housing figures for them were wrong.

Wycombe District Council's planning, environment and transportation committee will discuss the housing figures on February 5.

District councillor Peter Cartwright, who was at Friday's meeting, said the figure of 3,210 was about right and no more should be pushed into Bucks otherwise there would be more building on green field sites, which people did not want.

District housing figures are not up for discussion yet, but Cllr Cartwright said High Wycombe would not be able to take many more homes.

"The consensus is that Aylesbury Vale has still got some space," he said.