Campaigners against a new settlement project are irked the applicant has removed the site from the greenbelt.

Plans have been submitted by Wisley Property Investment to Guildford Council to build 2,100 homes. If completed, it would make up an area about half the size of Cobham.

The application for home, sports pitches, a school and shops states the site has been identified as a new settlement and hence removed from the greenbelt within the "emerging" Guildford local plan.

But the local plan is currently being assessed and has not yet been put into place.

Malcolm Aish of Wag said: "To quote a draft local plan which is in the process of reassessment by the council, following massive opposition from Guildford residents, is both irrational and misleading.

"There is no emerging local plan at the current time so it cannot be quoted as a planning reason for parachuting a new town into the green belt. The submission clearly pre-empts the content of a Guildford local plan."

Wisley Airfield is in the greenbelt south of Cobham, over the M25.

David Tipping, vice-chairman of Cobham Conservation and Heritage Trust, said: "Both the Cobham Conservation and Heritage Trust and the Cobham and Downside Residents Association will be writing to Guildford to strongly oppose the application."

Mike Murray, project manager, said: "The Guildford Council Greenbelt Review reports that Wisley Airfield is an appropriate site for development.

"The site was subsequently included in the draft Guildford local plan as a potential major development area. We support this allocation, however, the local plan has not yet been adopted by the council, which is why we have identified it as 'emerging' in our planning statement."