Villagers have declared a ‘call to arms’ in their battle to stop hundreds of houses being built in the Bingley countryside.

An application by construction giants Bellway and Redrow to obtain outline planning permission for 475 homes off Sty Lane, Micklethwaite, has now been validated for consideration by Bradford Council.

Greenhill Action Group (GAG), which is leading the protest, says that means the clock is ticking for opponents to prepare their protests before the issue goes before a Council committee. In the application, Bellway and Redrow are also seeking permission to replace the swing bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and provide new access roads off Sty Lane and Micklethwaite Lane, along with emergency access off Fairfax Road and off-site road improvements.

GAG now intends to hold weekly meetings with villagers as it draw up its battle plans over the next few months.

But its chairman Terry Brown complained that the group’s progress had so far been hindered by difficulties in downloading important documents relating to the application from the Council’s planning website.

He said: “We have got no more than 16 weeks and we have spent the best part of a week trying to get this information.

“This week we are drawing together a plan of action. We are preparing a newsletter to go out, we are going to be doing various surveys and arranging for petitions to be available, either printed or online.

“Our consultants are preparing our objections for the development site so that we can provide a list of valid objections for those people who want to object.”

Mr Brown said the group had already attracted considerable support from the community.

He said: “Hopefully now there’s enough of a groundswell of opinion to persuade the planing people to do something about it.

“And hopefully the objections that we have will be meaningful objections, and not just be in the manner of ‘we don’t want this in our back yard’, because that’s not what we are about.

“We have great concerns about 475 houses, which will mean something like 1,000 cars and about 1,500 people, all of which will make an impact on the transport infrastructure.”

Mr Brown argues that roads in the area would struggle to deal with the extra people and cars, even with the proposed replacement to the swing bridge – an opinion echoed by Councillor David Heseltine (Con, Bingley).

Coun Heseltine said: “I whole-heartedly support all the campaigners. It is a rural backdrop to Crossflatts and Micklethwaite as well as other parts of the Bingley ward.

“The canal side, where the proposed development is due to take place, is open countryside and the water’s edge is a haven for all sorts of feathered and four-legged wildlife.

“It would be a tragedy to lose such an outstanding part of the local community.”

The developers submitted an application last year but Bradford Council ruled it was “invalid” and needed to include more information before it would be resubmitted, a process that has now been completed.