A group has been set up to take forward proposals so residents can have a bigger say in what gets built in their village.

Mid Suffolk District Council gave a presentation to Debenham Parish Council in October over the potential for creating a neighbourhood or parish plan.

Councillors heard during the meeting how the village was “vulnerable” to development unless it creates the document which was brought in by the government in 2011.

Parish chairman Richard Blackwell said: “We’ve set up a working group to look at producing a parish plan or a neighbourhood plan. We are proposing to review it in a couple of months.

“It’s not firmly decided that we will have a plan but we are edging that way to help affect more positively the planning in the village.

“As a key service centre we are very likely to accommodate another 50-plus houses in the next few years.”

He said the village was learning from Mendlesham Parish Council which has already got Mid Suffolk to agree the area which would make up its own neighbourhood plan.

At the meeting the Debenham Parish Council unveiled six themes which could make up a plan, which could take two years to create.

The village is highlighted as a “key service centre” meaning it is earmarked for a total of 750 news homes over the next 15 years. The government’s National Planning Policy Framework gives weight to “sustainable” developments and focuses on speeding up planning decisions.

Mid Suffolk towns such as Needham Market and Eye are also investigating putting together neighbourhood plans.

The document needs to have the backing of the community via a referendum.