RESIDENTS in North Oxford will be asked for their views on the latest proposals for a Neighbourhood Plan covering their area.

The document will give people a say in the types of development that can take place and will cover transport issues, parking, housing, shops and renewable energy schemes.

Key issues will include the proposed redevelopment of the car park at Diamond Place and land east of the site at Summerfields School.

The Summertown and St Margaret’s Neighbourhood Forum is due to hold its first open day on draft policies on Tuesday.

Group chairman Martin Roberts said: “We’ve got five main areas we have covered and we want as much engagement as possible.

“Our aim is to ensure Summertown and St Margaret’s remains an attractive place to live, not just for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren.”

Mr Roberts said issues to be addressed included a need for more independent shops, rules for new developments to include environmentally-friendly measures such as solar panels, a new GP surgery and a need for more consistent provision of bicycle lanes for cyclists.

He added that a major concern for many residents was ensuring social and key worker housing continued to be built in the area.

Mr Roberts said: “There are fears the area could become a rich-person ghetto, but that wouldn’t be in anyone’s interest. We want to keep a variety of housing, and not price people out.

“The aim of our consultation is to test some of these ideas with people and see what is important to them. We will need to do that if we want to get it through a local referendum.”

Neighbourhood Plans were introduced through the Localism Act in April 2012.

They allow communities to create detailed development plans for their area, within the limits of any larger council plans, that can dictate where new homes and offices should be built and what they should look like.

Once a plan is drawn up, it must be approved by a local referendum and will then be legally-binding.

Neighbourhood forum retail leader Dan Channer said it would be key if residents wanted to influence development of sites such as Diamond Place, or land owned by Summerfields School earmarked by the council as a possible area for housing.

Mr Channer added: “This plan has to be for the people by the people, so we need people to give their views.”

* Tuesday’s consultation is from 4pm to 9pm at the Woodstock Road Baptist Church, on the corner of Beech Croft Road and Woodstock Road. Visit summertownstmargaretsforum.org.uk