People living in Suffolk Coastal have until the end of February to have an early influence on where homes and jobs are created in the district over the next 15 years.

The council is consulting the public on two documents which form part of a wider plan to guarantee a supply of land for development of housing and employment in the area.

The two documents will identify future residential and employment allocations and designations to meet the requirements set out in the core strategy of the council’s Local Plan, which lays out proposals for 7,900 new homes across the district, including 2,000 on land at BT’s research centre at Martlesham Heath.

Labelled ‘Issues and Options’, the consultation focuses on Suffolk Coastal’s site allocations and area specific policies development plan, and its Felixstowe Peninsula area action plan.

Head of planning, Geoff Holdcroft said: “People need to take this opportunity to have their say on the way their area develops over the next 15 years.

“As the name of the consultation suggests, we are currently examining the ‘Issues’ which will influence the development of the area, and trying to identify the realistic ‘Options’ that are open to us.

“The Issues and Options consultation for these two key documents sets out the ideas and suggestions for future residential sites across the district, as well as considering the employment sites, town centres, retail areas and areas to be protected from development.

“This is the first stage of consultation. Although there will be further consultation in the future, we want as many people as possible to get involved now. This is your area and your future – so have your say.”

The site allocations and area specific policies development plan will cover the whole of Suffolk Coastal, excluding communities within the Felixstowe Peninsula, which will be covered by the area action plan.

Letters have also been sent out to encourage responses from groups, including town and parish councils, residents associations, businesses, land owners, service providers and other stakeholders.

Comments on the Issues and Options documents can be made during the eleven weeks consultation which runs until 5pm on Friday, February 27.

A ‘Preferred Options’ consultation is then set to take place during the summer, followed by the submission of a final draft plan for representations relating to soundness.

The documents are expected to go for examination by the Planning Inspectorate in February 2016, and by an independent inspector that May 2016. Following publication of the inspector’s report, the council hopes to have adopted the documents by July 2016.

Copies of the documents are available on the council’s website, at its offices in Melton Hill, Woodbridge, or at public libraries in the district.

For further information relating to the consultation, contact the planning policy and delivery team on 01394 444558 or 01394 444761, or via suffolkcoastallocalplan@eastsuffolk.gov.uk.