East Hampshire District Council will be calling on residents at the end of the month to help shape the future of the district with a new consultation on the Local Plan.

Consultation on parts of the overdue plan is being redone, as the council aims to incorporate as many green initiatives as possible.

Residents won’t be asked to comment on potential housing sites, as this will be consulted on again next year.

But they will be asked to comment on climate change – how the council can limit carbon emissions when homes are built and then lived in; how the council and its partners can address housing numbers; and how the council can provide the right infrastructure to support new developments.

Residents will also be asked for views how the council should respond to the prediction that by 2040 more than 40 per cent of East Hampshire’s residents will be over 65.

Council planning policy manager Adam Harvey said: “You can see these themes encourage us to examine some of the most fundamental issues we face as a district.

“I believe a Local Plan is the most important thing the entire council does – although, as a planner, I suppose would say that.

“It is a hugely important document that sets out how we will deliver homes, jobs and services to the parts of East Hampshire outside the South Downs National Park over the next two decades.

“And, crucially, while it is undoubtedly a technical and complicated process to complete, we cannot do it without the input of the public.

“That’s why we are launching a new consultation that will ask questions around the issues and priorities and the challenges and dilemmas we will face over the life of the forthcoming Local Plan.

“We want to hear from people in the north west, including Alton, Four Marks and surrounding villages; the north east, including Whitehill and Bordon, Grayshott and Liphook; and the southern parishes, including Horndean, Clanfield and Rowlands Castle.”

In the consultation that runs from Monday, November 21 to Friday, January 16, residents will also be invited to say how they think East Hampshire’s highly-valued environment can be conserved, protected and enhanced

Mr Harvey added: “Certainly, the climate emergency is a high priority for the council and we expect this to be our greenest ever Local Plan.

“But how can we meet these environmental objectives? Is it possible to produce zero-carbon homes? Can we encourage more cycling and walking?

“Can we create settlements that will give residents easy access to key facilities?

“We need your help to consider all these questions and more.”

And for the first time the consultation will use easy-to-access online platforms that give residents the chance to have their say on the questions that most interest them.

However, there will still be three face-to-face live events at Alton Maltings (December 7), Forest Community Centre, Whitehill & Bordon (December 8) and in Merchistoun Hall in Horndean (December 14).

The consultation will be online from November 21, on the website at www.easthants.gov.uk/planning-policy-consultation

To follow the Local Plan progress, sign up to the council’s email bulletin service via the website at www.easthants.gov.uk