OKEHAMPTON'S town and hamlets councils will combine forces to put together a neighbourhood plan for Okehampton.

The two councils have adopted a joint councils' protocol to start the process of creating a neighbourhood plan. Such plans establish general planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood, for instance, where new homes and work space should be built and what they should look like.

The plan can be detailed or general depending on the desires of local people. Neighbourhood plans allow local people to get the right type of development for their community but the plans must still meet the needs of the wider area.

The neighbourhood plan is in its infant stages but may be a topic for discussion at the town assembly on March 23 and the Okehampton Hamlets parish meeting on April 14.

Cllr Tony Leech said he hoped that as many people as possible from the community would engage with the creation of a neighbourhood plan.

Town clerk Paul Snell said: 'We want to convene a public meeting in the future to get the ball rolling on this. At that first meeting we could consider designating the area covered by the neighbourhood plan and constitute councillors to be on the working group as well as members of the public.'