As government pushes ahead with its ambitious Communities Plan development targets, it is finding itself in a spot of conflict with regional assemblies on issues such as infrastructure capacity in growth areas. <p></p><p>While the deputy prime minister announced a £100 million funding package for Thames Gateway "schools, sports facilities, business opportunities, health, arts and training centres, libraries and sustainable transport links" in early November, elsewhere regional assemblies are questioning the government's ability to deliver. </p><p>The south east of England regional assembly's (SEERA) planning committee has asked the government to reconsider affordable housing targets for Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, which had been deleted from its 20-year development strategy. "We are very concerned about the lack of commitment to infrastructure and would like to see the affordable housing figures reintroduced," said committee member cllr Graham Mabbutt. </p><p>The committee has also called the government's infrastructure proposals for the area "inadequate," since they have eliminated the strategy's reference to an east-west rail link. Costs for such links have been described in a recent independent report by Roger Tym &amp;&amp; Partners as "prohibitive," ranging between £20 billion and £50 billion over the next 20 years - the higher figure representing infrastructure needed based on the …