PEOPLE in two communities could help decide how they will develop over the coming years.

Independent examiners have been called in to check over Neighbourhood Development Plans in Bishops Lydeard and Cothelstone and Trull and Staplehay.

They will look at the plans for future development drawn up by local teams and decide whether people living there can vote on those plans in a referendum to decide whether they can be adopted as planning policy.

John Mattocks, who has examined a number of similar plans, will examine the Bishops Lydeard and Cothelstone document, while Nigel McGurk, one of the country's most experienced examiners, will overlook the Trull and Staplehay submission.

The groups behind the NDPs have invested between two and four years on their community-led initiatives.

Cllr Roger Habgood, Taunton Deane Council's portfolio holder for planning policy and transportation, said: “The respective Neighbourhood Plan Groups have worked hard in the production of their NDPs.

"We await the outcome of the inspections and look forward to adding the finalised documents to the portfolio of planning policy documents that shape our borough.”

Proposals for up to 2,000 homes on farmland between Trull and Cometrowe have been put before the Deane - a decision was adjourned by the planning committee earlier this month.