The mayor of Lampeter has said he hopes a blueprint for its future will help ensure that the voice of local residents is central to the way the town develops over the next 20 years.

Cllr Rob Phillips was giving his view on the town’s Place Plans, a new initiative from the Welsh Government to try to involve communities more in the planning process and to ensure that the views and concerns of local people are taken into account as part of the planning process.

Lampeter is one of six Ceredigion towns whose residents have been invited to submit ideas on the re-shaping of their communities over the next decade and the town council will be holding a special meeting on 24 October to discuss the plans in depth.

“They’re meant to be bottom-up and community driven, and the plans will form part of the Local Development Plan, developed by Ceredigion County Council, as supplementary guidance,” Cllr Phillips told the Cambrian News.

“Town councils were asked to lead on the projects locally and in Lampeter we set up a group with members from a wide variety of backgrounds to lead the project to ensure that we had as much input from different perspectives as possible - including the university and the Chamber of Trade.

“We also consulted surrounding communities as, although the plan is for Lampeter town, Lampeter serves a wide area and it’s important that people from surrounding areas can also feed into to the plan so we can continue to be the service centre for the area.

“There were also a number of consultation exercises with local groups, younger people and through public events.

“I’m really pleased with the response we’ve had, and I hope it will help ensure that the voice of local residents is central to the way the town develops over the next 20 years."

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