STOKENHAM Parishioners have been mobilising to inform residents of the proposals outlined in South Hams Council’s ‘joint local plan’.

Chillington Housing Action Team have printed 500 black and white response forms at their own expense, and along with Stokenham Village Community Association have delivered flyers through every letterbox in the parish to encourage people to come to the public meetings held this week.

The Joint Local Plans, published on Friday, July 1, cover the South Hams District, West Devon Borough and Plymouth City areas, and set out where ‘potential development could take place, and how the area will change through to 2034.’

The plans are open to public consultation until Friday, August 12.

South Hams Council have confirmed that the black and white copies of the form printed by CHAT will be accepted as legitimate responses to the plans.

There was a meeting in Stokenham Village Hall on Monday, July 18 between representatives of the Parish Council, Chillington Housing Action Team and Stokenham Village Community Association to agree how best to approach the plans, and encourage the widest possible response from residents.

It was agreed that Stokenham and Chillington would complete their own ‘mail drop’ as soon as possible. And two public ‘drop in’ open days would be held in Chillington and Stokenham.

Rural areas such as Stokenham and Chillington are listed in a booklet called ‘Thriving Towns and Villages’. Within the plan, Stokenham and Chillington is shown as a ‘local centre’ with a combined proposed target of 95 houses.

The minimum number of houses for the South Hams local centres - Modbury, Salcombe, Stokenham, Chillington and Yealmpton is 500, spread over the years up to 2034.

Gill Claydon, Stokenham parish clerk said: ‘We displayed the plans and documents at the public meetings.

‘We’ll then be waiting until around Wednesday, August 10 and then provide a composite response to district planning from the parish.’

A spokesperson for South Hams Council said: ‘The joint local plan consultation that is running at the moment is the first stage in awareness raising before we enter formal consultation later in the year.

‘Our engagement officers have been popping up in local community centres and supermarkets to bring the large scale plans to those people who might not have shown an interest in the past.

‘For those communities who have shown an interest in holding their own joint local plan events, we have offered to provide the printed maps in large scale and given a couple of additional booklets.’