Plans to build almost 300 homes on fields on the southern edge of Bath could finally be decided next week amid fears it will bring “carmageddon.”

Locals are concerned it will bring added traffic congestion as vehicles associated with hundreds of new homes will all rely on the same road, causing long tailbacks around the Odd Down Park and Ride roundabout.

Highways officers at the council said it could add a “two-minute delay” for motorists but said this was not severe enough to turn the plans down.

Bath and North East Somerset Council was supposed to decide whether to grant planning permission for the Hignett Family Trust’s plan to build 290 homes on the fields near Odd Down in November.

Councillors said they did not have enough information about the impact it would have on local traffic and sent the plans back to developers. Now the plans are set to come back to the council’s planning committee on April 10.

A report commissioned by the Hignett Family Trust said that the new development could lead to an increase in queues of up to a minute during the morning rush hour on Sulis Manor Road, and of only a few seconds on other roads. It stated: “This marginal increase aligns with the levels considered reasonable and appropriate by B&NES.”

But Odd Down councillors Joel Hirst and Steve Hedges (both Liberal Democrat) warned: “The traffic models used are flawed and are under predicting the reality of lived experience of local residents.”

Objecting councillors warned: “The planning committee provided the developer with an opportunity to present more data to reinforce the points they want to make to support their planning application. Frankly we were shocked at the limited additional information provided and think this suggests they know their arguments are flawed and weak.”

South Stoke Parish Council and Combe Hay Parish Council commissioned an independent traffic assessment. Alan Bailes Consultancy used drone images to assess how long cars spent queueing during the morning rush hour, and said that cars spent forty times longer queueing than the Hignett Family Trust’s modelling had predicted.

Highways officers at Bath and North East Somerset Council said that the consultancy’s model and drone footage suggests that the new development would add two minutes to the time drivers have to wait, but added that the traffic tended to clear after 9am. They stated: “This does not appear to be an unreasonable outcome given the observed traffic conditions.”

Officers said that the impact on traffic was not severe enough to warrant recommending the refusal of the scheme, and again recommended that the scheme be approved.

The planned 290 homes are the third and fourth “phases” of the Sulis Down development. Phase one of the project was the new development of 171 homes of Combe Hay Lane, behind Odd Down Park and Ride. It was approved “with the utmost reluctance” by councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council’s planning committee in 2018.

Council planning officers are recommending that the committee approves the plan.