Landowners and anyone else who think certain sites in Swindon are ripe for building houses, offices or factories have just less than a month to tell Swindon Borough Council.

The authority is revisiting its local plan redraft and has put out a ‘call for sites’ that agents, developers, parish councils and the wider public think could be used in the development of the borough over the next 20 years.

The council is seeking site suggestions for a wide range of land uses including: residential; employment; retail and leisure such as shops, restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, supermarkets, cinemas and theatres; and healthcare, like hospitals, GP clinics, dentists and pharmacies.

It is also interested in nominations of sites which might be used for: green infrastructure and open spaces; energy, such as a solar farm; community uses such as nurseries, schools, colleges, museums, libraries, emergency service stations, places-of-worship and law courts; and burial and cremation sites.

Councillor Gary Sumner, the council’s cabinet member for strategic infrastructure, transport and planning, said: “It is really important we keep our local plan up to date as it is crucial to the future success of Swindon.

“A strong local plan ensures we have the right housing in the right places as well as the appropriate employment land to maintain our strong economy. The local plan includes how infrastructure to support new development will be delivered in a sustainable way.

“But we need the input of local people, parish councils, landowners and agents at this first initial stage so we can begin to identify where development could take place.

“This will help us to begin shaping a robust [plan] with a five-year housing supply, which will help prevent speculative applications on land where residents do not want to see development.”

Once the council has new sites it will produce an updated assessment of which land might be used for which purposes as part of the local plan evidence base, which looks at a range of issues including road, school and infrastructure capacity.

Then a draft local plan will be produced for public consultation. This will set out which land is proposed for future development.

The ‘call for sites' process is open until Friday, March 31. For queries about the process please contact the Council’s Forward Planning team via e-mail: forwardplanning@swindon.gov.uk.

Sites can be submitted to the Council’s Planning team at: www.swindon.gov.uk/SHELAA