A MAJOR consultation exercise on the long-term development of York and North Yorkshire will begin at the end of the month.

City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council, plus the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, are looking for comments on the draft structure plan.

The plan is a key part of shaping the future of the four areas and looks at a framework of detailed local proposals and decisions about conservation and future development.

People across the region will have until March 28 to comment on the plan, which also looks at how new housing and jobs will be provided while protecting the environment and creating sustainable communities.

Although City of York Council has responsibility for its own local plan, the authority teams up with North Yorkshire to consider the wider plans for the area.

The proposals will build on the response that the authorities received to the previous round of consultations in March 2000.

At that time, there was overwhelming support from the community for proposals to concentrate development in the larger towns and villages.

That consultation addressed a variety of issues, including making the best use of brownfield land, supporting market towns as centres for jobs and services and improving job opportunities for young people.

The current structure plan, which looks ahead to 2016, was developed in 1995.

The Government requires it to be reviewed on a regular basis so the four authorities have set up a joint advisory panel to help them work together to review the plan.

Anyone who wants to comment on the plan can find copies in local libraries and council offices, or they can download a copy from www.nystructureplan.org

Comments will be used to prepare a revised plan, which will then be published for further consultation.

Updated: 11:53 Saturday, January 25, 2003