LAUNCESTON Town Council is to look again at whether it should go ahead with producing a neighbourhood plan.

Neighbourhood planning allows people to come together through a parish or town council and say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go, and what they should look like.

Neighbourhood plans can be very simple, or go into considerable detail.

A neighbourhood plan that is accepted and adopted will have to be referred to by the government, Cornwall Council and parish councils before planning decisions are made.

The Cornwall Local Plan, to which a Launceston neighbourhood plan would have to comply, identifies the quantity and distribution of growth for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment.

In March 2015 the Post reported the town council decided not to pursue putting together a neighbourhood plan.

Cllr John Harris brought this to the agenda of the latest town council meeting on July 18. He said: “What I would like to do is open up a new debate and for us to look as a council once again, and maybe we will come to a different decision.

“There are future visions for this town apart from the one where everything goes on in the south [of the town] and we get covered in concrete.”

Cllr Paul O’Brien said he felt to produce an ‘effective’ plan, it would need to take into consideration some areas outside of the existing parish boundary, and that perhaps to make the most of funding available for areas creating a neighbourhood plan, Launceston and parishes such as St Thomas Rural could produce plans that run alongside each other.

Cllr Val Bugden-Cawsey said: “I also think it would be an excellent idea to include our neighbouring parishes. I do worry a little bit about the logistics of so many neighbouring parish councils being involved.”

Cllr Leighton Penhale added: “I believe a plan for the future and people of this town has to be a good thing,” but asked for reassurance that if a plan was put in place, that it could not be ‘run over’ by legal professionals.

Cllr Rob Tremain said: “It’s going to take a lot of effort, a lot of money. To get the referendums for the whole of Launceston, it’s one heck of a job to do. It could be worthwhile.”

Cllr Harris replied: “A bit of dedication for two years or so and a lot of work — I’m up for it and I’m sure other people would be up for it. If it means we can design a future for our town I’m all for it.”

Cllr O’Brien added of the plan: “It’s a way of towns and parishes taking back the control they might have had 30, 40, 50 years ago. I really do think it’s an absolute given that any town or parish that aspires to control its own future, it’s a road it should be on.”

Four councillors put their names forward to approach the neighbouring parishes for their views.