HYNDBURN residents are to have their say on how the borough develops over the next decade.

Questionnaires are being sent to households across Hyndburn to get people's views on the next local plan.

They will be asked for opinions on issues including where properties are built, where people live, work and play, and how they travel.

Their comments will be taken into account when the council prepares the first draft of the next local plan, which will decide how land is used until 2016.

The current plan was adopted in 1996 and lasts until 2006.

Councillor Jim Dickinson said: "This is an opportunity for the general public to decide the main issues on planning like how many houses we need and where we put them, and how we improve our employment prospects."

Council leader Ian Ormerod said: "It's for all our futures and the futures of our children."

The closing date for the return of questionnaires is Friday, December 20 with the first draft plan published in Autumn 2003.

After further negotiations a second draft will be published in summer 2005, followed by a public inquiry in Spring 2006, an inspector's report a year later, and final modifications in summer 2007 before the plan is adopted in autumn that year.