EVER wanted to help shape the future for your community?Residents of the Suffolk Coastal area – which includes Felixstowe, Woodbridge, Martlesham, The Trimleys and Kesgrave – are being asked to do just that to help draw up an action plan for the years ahead.

EVER wanted to help shape the future for your community?

Residents of the Suffolk Coastal area – which includes Felixstowe, Woodbridge, Martlesham, The Trimleys and Kesgrave – are being asked to do just that to help draw up an action plan for the years ahead.

A Community Strategy is being developed which will guide the plans, priorities and programmes of public service agencies operating in the district.

It is being led by the Suffolk Coastal Local Strategic Partnership, which includes district, county, town and parish councils, police, health service, local businesses, housing associations, and the voluntary sector.

The partnership is now asking residents what they think are the key issues facing the Suffolk Coastal district, what is their vision of what the district should be like in five or ten years' time, and what should be the key priorities.

The partners want Suffolk Coastal to be a place where people like to live, want to stay, want to visit, want to invest, feel cared for, and care for a sustainable environment and for others in the community.

They have agreed a draft strategy and are now asking the public for its views.

The main issues under discussion are the economy, housing, community well-being and the natural and built environment.

Council leader Ray Herring said: "We have consulted with our partners that provide services or employment in our district, and equally importantly have sought the opinions of local people through a series of surveys to identify what are the key issues for the future.

"To assist in the development of an action plan we need to know if local residents agree with these issues, and what they would like to be addressed within these headings.

"The Community Strategy is a very important document, as it will provide the forward direction for services and developments provided by this council and other key local organisations.

"For it to succeed it has to reflect the views of, and be supported by, the people of this district. We are asking people to please play their part now in drawing up the blueprint to make sure that Suffolk Coastal becomes an even better place to work, live and play."

The draft strategy is on council website – www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk. Copies are available from the council offices at Melton Hill, Woodbridge, the Aldeburgh, Felixstowe and Woodbridge tourist information centres, and libraries within the district. Views should be in by August 31.