<table> <tbody><tr><td> </td></tr><tr><td><i> Housing plans delayed – Robert Weston<br/><br/></i></td></tr></tbody></table>Local authorities are facing a growing crisis in recruiting qualified town planners, which threatens to undermine the government’s third-term priority of boosting housing growth figures. <p></p><p>As deputy prime minister John Prescott announced plans for an extra 140,000 homes in the Solent Gateway area between Southampton and Portsmouth, local authorities and housebuilders have simultaneously spoken out about the planner shortage, which could put paid to the plans. Latest figures from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) show that 13% of planning posts in London are vacant, with 17% currently filled by agency staff. </p><p>Weston Homes has reported that £120 million of schemes it is planning for the Thames Gateway are "grinding to a halt," as a result of the shortage. The plc currently has eight major schemes totalling 840 homes stuck in the planning pipeline. </p><p>"New Labour rhetoric on the Thames Gateway being the largest regeneration opportunity in Europe is not matching the disappointing reality," said chairman Robert Weston. </p><p>"My company and other developers across the region are trying to supply the homes the government has called for but we are increasingly being systematically frustrated and blocked at local planning level. </p><p>"While there …