PEOPLE in the South West are happier with where they live than any other part of the country, a Government survey has shown.

But the quality of life could be eroded because the region is one of the worst for re-using land for new homes, risking concreting over the countryside.

Housing density increased from 25 to 41 dwellings per hectare from 1994 to 2007 but more than a third of homes are still built on greenfield sites.

The amount of land labelled "urban or suburban" is rising by around 10 per cent every decade.

The controversial regional spatial strategy proposes thousands of new houses across the South West. It includes an extra 143,000 homes across the Devon area and 68,000 more houses in Cornwall.

Critics of the process have complained of centrally-imposed targets which risk building homes in the wrong place, including in the countryside instead of reusing previously-developed land.

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Liberal Democrat frontbencher and Mid-Dorset MP Annette Brooke called on the Government to "scrap the South West regional spatial strategy and allow local communities to develop plans to address local housing need and protect precious open spaces".

According to the study published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 91 per cent of people are satisfied with the area they call home.

But the geography of the region and the services on offer can impact on the quality of life.

For example, the lowest percentage of journeys was made by public transport in the South West – just 5 per cent. Since the mid-1990s the number of trips made on foot or bicycle has also fallen.

Meanwhile, people in the South West are finding it increasingly difficult to visit the doctor, post office or shops.

Despite growing levels of car ownership and Government boasts of increased investment in public transport, even those with a private car face more problems reaching services now than a decade ago.

"In general, access to all amenities has worsened since 1997-8 in the South West," Defra said.

For example, in 2007-8, 9 per cent of people in the South West with access to a vehicle perceived getting to a corner shop or supermarket difficult, compared with 29 per cent of people without a car. However, in 1997-98, around 5 per cent of car owners and 24 per cent of those without a car said it was a problem visiting the shops. Accessing a post office has also worsened by similar rates.

A major cost-cutting programme saw some 140 branches axed in Devon and Cornwall alone last year, with scores more closed in the rest of the South West region. According to the Defra statistics, the South West also had among the highest proportions of rivers of good quality while rates of burglary, vehicle theft and violent crime – as estimated by the British crime survey – are among the lowest of the regions.