A 20-YEAR development plan for north Oxfordshire is to be published by Cherwell District Council.

The plan will highlight sites in Banbury and the surrounding area that could be developed for housing, employment, shopping, and leisure or protected for open space and recreational purposes.

The document Site Allocations Issues and Options Paper has been approved by the council's executive, and a six-week public consultation will start at the end of this month.

The council will publish its preferred list of sites in December with a view to submitting the final plans for independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate in July 2007.

It is anticipated that the document will be adopted by the council in its final form in 2008 as part of Cherwell's new Local Development Framework.

George Reynolds, the council's executive member for development, said: "This document puts forward the council's views on planning issues facing Banbury and north Cherwell over the next 20 years.

"It does not propose any particular sites for development at this stage.

"It simply lists sites suggested to the council as possible for development in the future.

"The main purpose is to explore the range of options available. I hope as many people as possible contribute to this process by responding to the consultation."

The Site Allocations Issues and Options Paper will be available in hard copy and on-line, via the council's website.

The council has recently introduced an on-line response facility for commenting on planning documents via its website.

This will make responding to consultations easier for everyone. The Council encourages people to take advantage of this opportunity and submit their responses via the website (www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk) where comments from other people can also be viewed. Information on how to do this is included in the consultation paper and will be available on the Council's website once the document is published.

For more details, call 01295 227970.