Young people, particularly those aged under 30, are being urged to have their say and join an important consultation being run by North Somerset Council.

Youth advocate and councillor, Huw James, aged 24, has issued a call for more young people to join the local plan 2038 Challenges consultation, before the closing date of September 2.

The new local plan will shape how North Somerset grows and develops in the next 15 years and beyond.

Cllr James said: “This is our future. We need to make sure young people are part of the conversation and proportionally represented in the development of North Somerset’s local plan.

“For a local plan to work, it needs to tackle the issues and problems faced by young people. That’s exactly why this first stage of consultation focuses on the challenges the new local plan needs to address.

“We need to hear from more people aged under 30, who might not yet have their own home or a family of their own, but will over the next 10-20 years.”

The number of homes which must be planned for in North Somerset is determined by central government.

The new plan will shape how North Somerset grows to meet these targets, as well as guide the jobs, transport, community facilities and supporting infrastructure required.

It has been created after Government inspectors said the joint spatial plan, a proposal to build 25,000 homes in North Somerset, needed ‘rewriting’, sending council officers back to the drawing board last September.

Alongside three other councils, North Somerset was part of the West of England Joint Spatial Plan, but the plan was scrapped after the planning inspectorate found ‘significant concerns’ with it.

The plan would have seen the development of two garden villages between Banwell and Churchill, the introduction of Junction 21A and thousands of homes earmarked for Nailsea and Backwell.

The online consultation can be found at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/newlocalplan. Updates will also be posted on the council’s social media.

The responses received to this summer’s consultation will guide the next stage of creating the North Somerset Local Plan, which will focus on the choices around the location of future development.