THE people of Worcestershire are being urged to have an input about major housing plans that will change the county.

The proposals to build 62,300 homes across south Worcestershire, as set out in the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (WMRSS), have met with fierce criticism from some people.

Now, in a bid to work with residents, a major public consultation has been launched. The South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy (SWJCS) will not only implement the conclusions of the WMRSS, but guide housing and associated growth to ensure that the public is involved. The first part of the consultation is an online questionnaire - the result of a SWJCS event held recently to discuss how south Worcestershire will look in 2026. Worcester city councillor Robert Rowden, chairman of the Joint Advisory Panel which hosted the event, said: "It was an invaluable opportunity to develop the aims and vision of the South Worcestershire Core Strategy with a diverse audience. By bringing everyone together we were able to consider the main issues, challenges and opportunities facing south Worcestershire over the next 20 years."

Those issues identified at the event form the basis of the short questionnaire. People are asked whether the housing growth should be spread throughout the towns and villages of South Worcestershire or concentrated in a new settlement.

The responses from the questionnaire will help the SWJCS team assess the issues identified so far and in November there will be another opportunity for the public to express their views. The online questionnaire can be found at www.swjcs.org. The closing date is Sunday, July 1.

STRATEGY TIMETABLE * March 2007Launch of the South Worcestershire Joint Core Strategy* May 2007 onwardsInitial period of awareness raising with ongoing discussion forums, exhibitions and questionnaire surveys* November 2007Publication of the Issues and Options document. This will seek to explain how issues and the potential options to deal with them have been derived. A statutory six week period of further public consultation will then follow. This will serve to confirm to the three councils the issues and concerns that have been identified for the community of south Worcestershire.* June 2008Responses to the Issues and Options document will have been considered and a Preferred Options document will be published for further consultation.* January 2009 A final draft Core Strategy document will be submitted to the Secretary of State and an Examination in Public will be held in early summer 2009 with a view to the final version being adopted in January 2010.See comment in OPINION