Possible locations for some 900 extra homes have been revealed by Three Rivers District Council after a four-month consultation.

Government planners have demanded 4,000 new homes be built in the district by 2021 as part of the council's 15 year development plan.

Originally 3,600 new homes were demanded but a recent change to planners' calculations has pushed the number up to 4,000, leaving council planners short of 901 homes.

Residents were asked to rank in order eight possible locations for developments to make up this shortfall - many in Green Belt land to cope with what the authority describes as an "excessive" housing demand (see table).

More than 400 responses were received to the 55-page Planning Your Future Document released in August - more than half of which came from residents in Croxley Green.

The consultation also asked residents to nominate alternative sites which they thought were suitable for development.

The sites nominated by residents included: n Chorleywood, west of Green Street, SE of Chenies Road n Abbots Langley, south of Toms Lane n Batchworth Heath, Griggs Field n Langleybury School House / School n Abbots Langley, land off Love Lane Planners will now examine the various sites and come up with so called "preferred options" in spring 2008, after which another lengthy consultation would be held.

Some residents and councillors, however, are concerned that these early stage proposals will be hard to resist if the council declares them as preferred options.

Chorleywood district councillor Leonard Spencer said any plan to build in Chorleywood would meet opposition.

He said: "New estates on this site would bitterly opposed. We fought long and hard to resist a golf course planned for this site and now the district council comes forward with this idea. It would be the rape of Chorleywood and we will oppose it."

Others complain that any encroachment into the cherished Green Belt is unacceptable.

However, Three Rivers District Council say they have to explore all options, adding that the targets facing them are legally binding and non-negotiable.

Councillor Martin Trevett, responsible for protecting the local environment, said: "We continue to oppose the Government's target for an extra 4,000 dwellings in Three Rivers by 2021. At the same time, while we recognise the need to plan for future housing needs, we have to apply a common sense approach in planning.

"The majority of residents who responded to our consultation agree with proposals to identify locations for new housing within built up areas and on sites at the edge of existing developments."

Those who responded to the survey prioritised these areas for development.

1. South east Abbots Langley: n 300 to 400 homes (Green Belt This area centres on the former aerodrome site now known as Leavesden Park.

2. West of South Oxhey: 100 homes (Green Belt) This area centres on the area around Little Furze Primary School, south of Gosforth Lane.

3. East Kings Langley: n 100 homes (flood zone) This area centres on the employment area east of Kings Langley between the River Gade to the west and the West Coast Main Line to the east..

4.East Carpenders Park: (Green Belt, flood zone) 100 homes This area centres on land to the south east of the built up area of Carpenders Park at the junction of Oxhey Lane and Little Oxhey Lane.

5. North east Maple Cross:(Green Belt, flood zone) 200 homes. This area centres on the Maple Lodge site between the A412 and the sewage treatment plant. The area is currently identified in the Three Rivers Local Plan 1996-2011 as a potential area of redevelopment within the Green Belt.

6. South east Croxley Green: 100 homes (potential flood zone, wildlife sites) This area centres on the Croxley Business Park, close to the district's boundary with Watford.

7. East of Abbots Langley: Green Belt 100 homes.

8. North of Croxley Green: (Green Belt, conservation area) 100 homes. This centres on farmland/open space between the northern built up area of Croxley Green and Little Green Lane.