Work is starting on a new local plan covering the Somerset West and Taunton Council area.

And people can give their views in a two-month consultation which started on Monday.

The new local plan will set out where new development should go and how it should be designed.

It will cover policies to address issues such as climate change, housing, jobs, infrastructure, the environment and community facilities. And it will detail the policies which planning applications will be assessed against.

The council’s two current local plans – separate ones for Taunton Deane and West Somerset – were adopted between 2008 and 2017 and cover the period up to 2032.

They will be replaced by one new plan covering the whole of the new SWAT council area. It will be adopted in 2021/22 and will cover the period up to 2040.

Before a local plan can be adopted, it has to go through a number of stages of public consultation and independent examination in public.

The consultation which started on Monday and ended on Monday, March 16, centres on an issues and options document which sets out draft objectives and key issues for the local plan, particularly around climate change and development needs over the next 20 years.

All parishes and neighbouring councils have been invited to respond to the document, which outlines the proposed scale of growth and starts to set out different ways that growth could be achieved.

The council has organised a series of roadshows for members of the public to learn more about the plan, with officers on hand to answer specific questions.

They will take place at Wellington’s Quaker Meeting House on January 21 from 10am-3pm; West Somerset House in Williton on January 30 from 2-7pm; Taunton, the Orchard Shopping Centre on February 6 from 10am-3pm; Minehead Methodist Church in the Avenue on February 10 from 2-7pm; The Sanctuary in Watchet on February 11 from 10am-3pm; Wiveliscombe Community Centre on February 20 from 10am-3pm; and Deane House in Taunton on February 27 from 2-7pm.

Cllr Mike Rigby, executive member for planning policy and transport, said: “A good local plan is helped by information from local people so that we understand what is important to local communities and businesses.

“We need to make sure that enough homes and jobs can be built as well as facilities such as shops, services and transport improvements.

“This is the chance for everyone who lives, works or cares to make a difference to the future of the district.

“We are consulting on a range of potential approaches and invite as many people as possible to respond to our consultation.

“It’s really important that if people are interested in how their localities develop over the next two decades, they engage with this process.”

The full issues and options document is available to view on the Somerset West and Taunton Council website, and paper copies are available at Deane House in Taunton, West Somerset House in Williton; and local libraries.

Responses can be made using the online consultation portal yoursay.somesetwestandtaunton.gov.uk or by returning the paper questionnaire by freepost.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

The responses will be analysed to help inform the next stage – a draft of the local plan which the council will consult on in late 2020.