A group of Williams Lake residents will appeal a Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling giving the green light to an 870-dwelling development in their area.

The Williams Lake Conservation Co., in documents filed with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, claims the trial judge erred in two ways and "possessed a predetermined mindset . . . that made it impossible for him to hear the matter in an unbiased manner."

Justice Glen McDougall ruled in November that the process followed by developer Kimberly-Lloyd Developments was fair and that regional council's rezoning decision - paving the way for the project - should stand.

Residents had argued that they were not given enough time to dispute the plan. They now say the judge was wrong to classify a supplementary report on the project as a mere clarification of information that had already been gathered.

Kimberly-Lloyd plans to build a series of single-family homes, townhouses and apartment buildings that would be an extension of the firm's Governor's Brook Estates.

The area is between Colpitt Lake and MacIntosh Run, and is wedged between Herring Cove Road and Williams Lake.

No date has been set for the appeal.