Protesters against a proposed 2,700-home development took part in a countryside walk to show people the impact building would have on the green site in Bradford.

A petition containing 1,000 signatures, collected by Save Tong & Fulneck Valley Association, has been handed to Bradford Council, opposing the proposal, which is part of the Holme Wood and Tong Neighbourhood Development Plan.

On Saturday, campaigners held a two-hour walk, starting at Tong Village Hall, which covered all the areas under threat, including Westgate Hill.

Canon Gordon Dey, chairman of the association, said the walk had brought home the impact the proposed building would have.

He said, after tramping through the countryside for two hours: “It’s been a lovely day and we had a fantastic walk.

“We had some fabulous views, but it really brought it home to us the impact these proposals would have on the countryside.

“The building would be on the top of the hillside and would affect, not just those walking, but everybody who lives there.”

Bradford Council has published a Core Strategy Local Plan, which, the group says, confirms it is seeking to remove Green Belt protection for 1,800 homes to be built on a large swathe of land stretching from Tong Lane, across Westgate Hill into the Tong Valley.

The association is not opposing plans for a further 900 homes to be built in and around Holme Wood, but is anxious about an additional area of land, deeper into the Valley and on New Lane, which has been identified as available, but currently unsuitable, for housing.

The Plan will be put to the full Council on December 10.

Canon Dey said the walk had strengthened the resolve of the protesters to fight the plans.

He said: “We have been at this for four years and it is coming to a conclusion. We should do everything we possibly can to deter the Council from this move. At the moment they could pull back from including this Green Belt land in their strategy and still present the core strategy for approval by the Planning Inspectorate. If they don’t, we believe the Planning Inspectorate will throw the strategy back at them, which wont be to anyone’s advantage.”