ENVIRONMENTALISTS have warned that Princes Risborough will be changed irreparably if a plan to build 600 houses goes ahead.

Proposals for the homes at Park Mill Farm are being discussed next month at Wycombe District Council Chamber as part of the public inquiry in to the council's Local Plan.

The district council has proposed 600 houses to be built on the Park Mill Farm, a green field site beyond the railway line, with 300 homes built there by 2011.

Dr Sandy MacFarlane, of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), said it was wrong to build on that site.

He said: "Once we've gone across the railway line, there's nothing stopping people from building on that side."

Dr MacFarlane believes the railway is a natural boundary and any new housing should not be built beyond the line.

Gordon MacDonald, of the Risborough Area Residents Association (RARA), said that residents were against the building of housing on the site.

He said a survey of 711 people, taken in January last year, showed that 77 per cent of people were against the allocation of housing in Park Mill Farm.

Mr MacDonald also accused Princes Risborough Town Council of not consulting the people about the proposals. He said: "They're not representing us."

But chairman of the town council David Allworth said it represented the residential and business community of Princes Risborough and that the council's position had been noted on a number of occasions.