RESIDENTS have been asked to have their say on an area's neighbourhood plan.

Pendle Council has launched a public consultation to consider the final version of Trawden Forest’s neighbourhood plan.

In July 2016 the parish council asked the borough council to formally designate the parish as a neighbourhood area, so they could prepare a neighbourhood plan.

Over the past 18 months, a steering group has drafted new planning policies for their area to reflect the feedback they have received from the community.

The nine policies within the neighbourhood plan address a wide range of issues, including measures to reduce the amount of on-road parking and efforts to promote tourism at Wycoller Country Park.

The parish council has also allocated five sites for new housing, which have the potential to provide 50 new homes up to 2030.

If the plan is approved, three Local Green Spaces will be protected from development along with 30 open space sites.

Cllr Julie Henderson, who leads on planning for Pendle, said: “The Trawden Forest Neighbourhood Plan is the first in Pendle to reach this stage. It’s an exciting and ambitious document, which sets out a realistic vision for the future of the area.”

Barry Hodgson, chair of Trawden Forest Parish Council, said: “This consultation provides residents in Trawden, Cotton Tree, Winewall and Wycoller with a final opportunity to read the plan and to tell us if they are happy with what it says.”

The public consultation runs for six weeks and all comments must be sent to Pendle Council by 5pm on April 6.

Anyone registered to vote in the area covered by the neighbourhood plan will then be entitled to vote in a public referendum.

Following the public consultation the neighbourhood plan, all the comments received in response to this consultation, will be sent to the independent examiner appointed to conduct the formal examination of the plan.

Copies of the plan and its supporting documents can viewed at Colne Library, Trawden Parish Council office, Number One Market Street in Nelson and via Pendle Council’s website www.pendle.gov.uk/neighbourhoodplans.