Protesters against controversial plans for up to 440 homes on a green field site near Bingley say they need more time to consider an updated report on the scheme after Bradford Council sent out letters to say the deadline to make views was fast looming.

The application for the homes off Sty Lane, Micklethwaite, would also see the removal of an existing vehicular swing bridge to be replaced with a vehicular and pedestrian swing bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

Protesters have argued the plans would not only destroy fields between Crossflatts and Micklethwaite, but also cause traffic problems due to narrow roads and a single-track bridge across the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

The application, submitted by Redrow Homes and Bellway Homes, was first made in September 2009 and has previously been dismissed by the Secretary of State for Communities Eric Pickles, and also refused by Bradford Council and a planning inspector.

Residents near the proposed site have received notification letters, dated June 3, from Bradford Council stating a planning application has been submitted and any objectors have until June 16 to make their submissions.

But Terry Brown, chairman of the Greenhill Action Group, which is battling to stop the development, said engineering firm Sandersons Associates has compiled an 86-page document, made available on May 21, which he said protesters were not told about and contains new drawings and updated plans.

Mr Brown said they need more time to examine the new document as Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee is set to meet to discuss the plans on June 19, only three days after the deadline for public comments expires.

He said the document contains new plans, drawings and supplementary information for the site which have yet to be mulled over by the public and he has urged the Council to put back the date of the meeting.

He said: “It’s totally unfair to the public. The only sensible way is to postpone the meeting and arrange a new meeting so the supplementary information that they have provided can be considered.”

In an e-mail to Mr Brown, seen by the Telegraph & Argus, John Eyles, Bradford Council’s major developments manager, said there would not be a deferment of the committee date agreed.

Bellway Homes has previously stated its confidence that its plans for the site, which has been earmarked for housing since 1998, will be approved.

Last week Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies told the Commons that it was “wholly unsuitable” to build on the site and as well as number of others in his constituency.