VILLAGERS have started a campaign encouraging people to have their say on future housing developments.

A group of Melbourn residents have started Melbourn Housing Development Awareness Campaign (MELHDAC) to coincide with South Cambridgeshire District Council’s consultation into its 2013 local plan.

The plan lists possible sites for development in the district, and includes a suggestion that 270 homes could be built near New Road, Melbourn, which is currently outside village development framework.

A spokesman for MELHDAC said: “A group of volunteers will be delivering information and response forms in the village over the next few days to allow every resident to have their say on the proposals and the implications for the future of the village.

“The campaign’s priority is to ensure as many residents as possible are able to make the district council aware of what they want for the future of Melbourn.”

A local plan exhibition was held in Melbourn on January 14, and residents have until 5pm on February 18 to make their views known to the district council.

Sites listed in the local plan, such as the New Road land, have been put forward by developers or land owners as the district council looks to provide more housing. Inclusion in the plan does not necessarily mean they will be built on, but that they could be developed in the future.

Consultation is currently at the second stage, with the council having first sought the views of residents last summer.

Cllr Pippa Corney, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s cabinet member for planning policy and localism, said: “In the summer we received over 20,000 comments, which demonstrates how passionate people feel about striking the right balance between providing for the future and protecting what makes South Cambridgeshire a special and unique place.

“Community engagement is at the heart of the local plan and we hope to maintain this level of involvement through the next stage of the consultation as well as to connect with even more people.”