TRULL and Staplehay Neighbourhood Plan Group are asking stakeholders – the Environment Agency Somerset County Council and other statutory organisations - as well as people who live, work and carry out business in the parish, for their views on the emerging Neighbourhood Plan.

Consultation on the community document has started and comments need to be submitted by April 6.

The document and information on the Neighbourhood Plan Group can be found at: https://trullneighbourhoodplangroup.wordpress.com/ The group behind the plan have been working for almost three years on the document and are now ready to enter the next stage of the process.

Under the Localism Act, communities have been given the chance to help shape the way their areas grow and develop and a Neighbourhood Plan brings their ideas together.

A neighbourhood plan must look at the use of land, whether for homes, shops, business or recreation - such as play areas - and can influence development and allocate sites. It cannot be used to restrict or prevent development. The Trull group has sent questionnaires to more than 2,000 residents in Trull and Staplehay and undertaken research which has resulted in the 60-page plan that was presented last month to Cllr Mark Edwards, portfolio holder for planning at Taunton Deane Borough Council.

Mr Edwards said: “I would like to congratulate the Neighbourhood Plan team in Trull and Staplehay they have worked extremely hard and I see this plan as an exemplar of community working.

“I want to encourage everyone in Trull and Staplehay to engage with this process, this is their Neighbourhood Plan and after three years hard work by a small dedicated team of local people it deserves the whole community’s focus as it reached this critical final phase.”