CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans to build thousands of new homes on green belt land at Ashton Vale have handed 2,000 letters objecting to the proposal to council chiefs.

Members of the Dundry Residents Action Group (DRAG) handed over the letters objecting to plans for the new homes to North Somerset Council leader, councillor Nigel Ashton.

The 1,500 strong group has been fiercely campaigning against the proposal by developer Land Trust to build 9,500 homes on a 200-hectare swathe of green belt land stretching from the A38 at Dundry near the Barrow Tanks right down to the A370 Long Ashton bypass to Ashton Vale.

Campaigners say they are angry that plans have been put forward when the blueprint for the South West Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) has not been agreed.

The RSS was launched last year in response to a Government directive which said thousands of new homes need to be built across the south west to cope with the growing population.

The strategy, led by the Regional Assembly, identified the swathe of green belt land on the slopes of Dundry and Ashton Vale as a potential area for growth.

A consultation on the RSS got underway last year, with more than 35,000 responses received.

A decision on the RSS has been delayed because of a legal case involving the east of England version of the document.

North Somerset Council has until the end of March to make a recommendation on the planning application. However if the council objects to the application, the developers can then appeal, meaning a decision will ultimately lie in the hands of the Secretary of State.

DRAG campaigner, Debbie Nicholls, said: "Not only is this application premature it lacks vision, lacks infrastructure, is unsustainable, undeliverable and unachievable.

"We are delighted to have handed over so many letters of objection and we still have a few more to hand in.

"We are urging people to continue to write to North Somerset Council because they still have until the end of March to register their objections.

"The letters came not only from people living in Dundry but residents from the surrounding areas such as The Uplands, Bedminster Down, Long Ashton and Highridge.

"The amount of letters we handed over proves how passionately feel about protecting the green belt."

The proposed new development, expected to cost around £2.5 billion, would see a new town the size of Clevedon created and would be called Ashton Park.

Mrs Nicholls added: "Many more applications are being made upon our green belt and if we allow just one development a precedent will be set.

"We are custodians of the green belt and we must protect it for future generations as previous generations before us have done."