A COMMUNITY near Coalpit Heath has joined forces to stop a housing developer from building hundreds more homes on green fields.

People living near Woodlands Farm, between Badminton Road and Park Lane, have mounted a public campaign against Barratt Homes’ plan to build 420 houses on the rural land.

Residents, who are currently watching Barratts build The Meads on a neighbouring site, say losing more cherished countryside would be a devastating blow to the community.

Campaign organiser Richard Merrick, who has lived on Park Lane for 30 years, said: "The land is actively used for agriculture and has been for a good many years.

"It is a boundary between the villages and the countryside. We want it left as open space, it is a very valuable environmental feature with a footpath going through the land.

"If the development went ahead it would just become an urban spread."

Barratts held an invite-only stakeholder workshop, which local councillors Claire Young (Lib Dem, Westerleigh) and Pat and Dave Hockey (Lib Dem, Frampton Cotterell) attended.

Cllr Pat Hockey said Woodlands Farm was not included in South Gloucestershire Council’s Core Strategy, a planning blueprint detailing where the authority thinks development should take place in the next 25 years. "This area is left in the plan as open countryside as we know only too well that this is what local people want," she said. Cllr Young said people were concerned about the loss of countryside, the impact on roads, drainage problems and pressure on local services such as schools and doctors.

She added: "I am disappointed that Barratts are jumping the gun in this way.

"The council’s Core Strategy says that communities should shape development in their villages through neighbourhood planning. It is local residents and businesses, not the developers, who should be in the driving seat."

Ian Thorn, speaking on behalf of Barratt Homes, said the proposal was still at a very early stage and developers were keen to speak to local residents.

"We want to understand where the core strategy is moving and will then take a view before continuing with a proposal accompanied by a full and extensive public consultation," said Mr Thorn.

"We want to understand much better the local needs and issues and we will keep local people informed."