RESIDENTS of North Tawton have the chance to put forward their views on the town and how they would like to see it developed in the future at an exhibition on Saturday.
The North Tawton Village Design Statement group, which is all about planning on a local level how building should take place to enhance to the town, are holding a public exhibition and consultation in the town hall from 10am to noon by kind permission of the Lakeway United Church.
In February of this year North Tawton Town Council helped set up the group which consists of people from the community concerned that the character of the area is preserved, not destroyed, by development.
When the Design Statement is completed it will be adopted as supplementary planning guidance by West Devon Borough Council and will be taken into account when determining planning applications.
It is hoped as many people as possible turn up to the exhibition and have their say before the first draft of the document is written.
'We need to know what people feel is important in their community and should be retained, duplicated, enhanced or preserved,' said parish clerk Alison Baker.
People will be asked what features of which buildings they would like to see incorporated into the design of new housing after looking at a series of photographs of the town.
The Design Statement will describe the visual character of the town and the surrounding countryside, show how the character of the town can be protected in any new building, lay down guidelines for the design of new buildings and is about managing change in the town not preventing it.
There are currently proposals in the borough council's draft Local Plan for 200 new houses in North Tawton over the next ten years. The town council has objected to the proposals because they feel the infrastructure of the town is not sufficient to deal with the increase in population.