THE latest chance for Ilminster residents to decided how their town looks in the future has arrived.

The Neighbourhood Plan Development Group (NPDG) is calling on the community for its opinion as the latest step in the project.

Ilminster Town Council agreed on October 13 to investigate developing a Neighbourhood Plan

If the town is able to create a quality set of policies to shape future planning developments, and agree on it with a referendum, the Ilminster people could have a say in the location and type of new homes, transport, heritage, tourism, and the environment.

The NPDG is holding a series of structured workshops for the public to join in.

The three events will be run by a team of professional planners, urban designers and architects in an informal environment.

They will be informative and fun, with refreshments along with activities for younger people.

A spokesman for the group said: “The Ilminster Neighbourhood Plan is an exciting community approach to local planning policies and aims to help people living, working or studying in Ilminster to play a direct role in improving Ilminster.

“We will share the outcome of our completed ‘Call for Sites’ and ‘Sites Options Report’ and wish to hear your views on what sites are suitable for development, and the design of developments, in Ilminster. “

The first workshop will cover the topic of site selection, and is set to take place this Thursday (September 26).

The other two workshops will address the design code for the neighbourhood plan.

They are being held on Thursday, October 17, and Thursday, October 21.

All the workshops will be held at the Ile Valley Youth and Community Centre in Frog Lane, Ilminster, and they will all run from 5pm to 7pm on their respective days.

The spokesman added: “To join our workshops, please let us know as soon as possible, and no later than 5pm, the previous Tuesday, by emailing: martha@eca-p.com with the title ‘Ilminster Neighbourhood Plan’.

“Should workshops be oversubscribed, we will arrange additional workshops and keep you informed of these.

“We look forward to seeing you and hearing your views.”

To find out more about Ilminster’s Neighbourhood Plan, you can go to the Ilminster Town Council website’s dedicated page ilminster.gov.uk/neighbourhood-plan.