Campaigners trying to stop hundreds of houses being built on green belt land in Oldland Common will stage a protest when planners visit the site to see the area under threat.

Members of South Gloucestershire Council's sites inspection panel will be taken to the land off Barry Road on Friday to have the scheme outlined to them.

They will then report back to planning colleagues before the council determines the application drawn up by Devon-based Strategic Land Partnerships.

So far more than 1,500 letters have been sent to the council in response to the outline scheme for 450 houses – all but two against the proposal.

Opposition has also come from Bitton and Oldland parish councils, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Hanham and Shortwood green belt campaigners and individual councillors who represent the area.

But the developers have already said that if the application is rejected, they will lodge a formal appeal, forcing a public inquiry when a Government-appointed planning inspector will hear the evidence and make a ruling.

The protected land chosen for the building project currently comprises five fields at the foot of Oldland Ridge, across which run two public footpaths. As well as housing, of which more than a third would be designated as affordable, the scheme also allows for a new primary school, a 60-bed care home for the elderly, shops and offices.

The land is part of a bigger area of green belt which could be lost to developers if Government moves to take away its protected status are eventually agreed.