Every person living and working in Westmorland and Furness is being invited to join a major conversation on how to make the area better both now and in the future.

Westmorland and Furness Council is preparing its first Local Plan which looks ahead 20 years from now and considers how many new homes and workplaces is needed for the area to continue to thrive .

This is while protecting local and historic character and special landscapes, green spaces and environment.

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The council is kickstarting the process with a conversation about the places residents live, work and visit across the Local Plan area – the parts of Westmorland and Furness outside the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national park areas.

A digital survey has gone live today and as many people as possible are being urged to let the local authority know their views.

Conversations will also be happening at drop-in sessions all around Westmorland and Furness, starting in Kirkby Stephen on Wednesday, when people can talk to council officers to find out more about the process and contribute.

The council will also be asking people to give their views on the design of new development by helping to shape a Design Code for our area.

Councillor Virginia Taylor, Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities and Localities, said: "Making a local plan could be the most important thing the Council does. A local plan sets out the future we want for ourselves and for future generations.

"It’s a chance for everyone – residents, businesses, utilities, highways, education, health, town and parish councils, environment and nature agencies –  for everyone to contribute to a plan for the best future for the whole of Westmorland and Furness.

"A new plan is a chance for us to solve problems of housing, jobs, transport and infrastructure. The consultation is a chance to input local knowledge, hear expert testimony, and assemble a wide range of data so the plan is made up of good decisions, soundly based.

"This is the very first stage in preparing our Local Plan and there will be future consultations as the plan develops and the draft plan emerges. We promise to listen to all comments, views and suggestions and keep the people who matter at the heart of the process."

The Local Plan will allocate sites for housing and other developments, such as new employment sites and minerals and waste sites (e.g. quarries and recycling centres).

The council is asking people to put forward sites to be included within the new Local Plan.

It contains the policies that are used to guide and decide whether to grant planning permissions for new development.

The plan seeks to make the area better by, for example, reducing the environmental impact of new development, building affordable housing, helping wildlife and reducing flood risk, helping improve infrastructure (including roads and cycleways, schools, drainage systems, facilities for recycling/waste management and community facilities) and identifying the infrastructure needed to support development and shows how it will be accommodated and provided for.

The plan takes into account changes in our economy, population, society, towns, countryside and nature, movement around places, climate, and frequency of extreme weather event, heritage and communities.

To join the conversation or find out details about the drop-in sessions at www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/localplan