MAKE sure you have your say - that's the advice to Felixstowe residents as fresh consultation takes place over the future of the area.

MAKE sure you have your say - that's the advice to Felixstowe residents as fresh consultation takes place over the future of the area.

Mayor Mike Deacon is urging people to ensure they give their views as the debate is re-opened into how many new homes should be built at the resort in the next 15 years.

Suffolk Coastal has put forward a proposal for around 2,000 new homes, some of which will be on sites already with planning permission but land will have to be found for 1,700.

At this stage, residents are not being asked for their views on recommended sites, although they do have the opportunity to comment on a document containing sites suggested by landowners and developers across the district.

Consultants are being commissioned to try to identify sites for the Felixstowe homes after councillors rejected the idea for two huge new estates on the edge of the resort.

Instead, they agreed the resort should have “organic growth” to meet its desperate housing needs - and the homes will be scattered on smaller sites in the town and surrounding villages, mainly the Trimleys.

Mr Deacon said it was vital people had their say on the future plan for the district.

He said: “I would urge people to make sure they look closely at these documents and make sure they give their views to the council.

“It is essential that we do not lose this opportunity to comment.”

Consultation begins on December 8 and will run until February 16.

Where should the new homes be built? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk