SOMERSET West and Taunton residents will have to wait longer to have their say over how many new homes should be built in their district.

The new district council – which was officially formed in April – is carrying out a review of its Local Plan, which sets out how many homes will be needed across the district over the next two decades.

The council intend to start consulting with the public this summer, getting their initial input about local needs before beginning to draw up and review a list of possible sites for housing and employment land.

But because of an administrative error, this consultation may now not start until late-summer – meaning a lot of local people might not be around to have their say during the holiday period.

The council’s executive met in Taunton on Tuesday (June 18), just under a week after its scrutiny committee had tackled the Local Plan at a separate meeting in Williton.

Councillor Libby Lisgo, the scrutiny vice-chair, said members of the executive had received a written summary of the committee’s comments but these had not been approved by either her or the chairman, Councillor Gwilym Wren.

She said: “We had a fairly substantial debate on this matter at scrutiny last week. Now you’ve all got something in writing that tells you what scrutiny said – but scrutiny hasn’t had sight of that.”

James Hassett, the council’s chief executive, said proper process had to be followed, stating: “Scrutiny comments should come from the chair or vice-chair, not officers interpreting it.”

Council leader Federica Smith-Roberts called for a decision on all Local Plan matters to be deferred “to ensure the whole process is correct” – but officers warned this would make it harder to hold the first found of public consultation over the summer.

Nick Bryant, from the council’s planning and strategy team, said he was determined to get as much feedback as possible in the different stages of the consultation.

He said: “The sort of people who do engage with planning processes aren’t always representative of the broader community. We need to engage with the broadest audience possible.

“If we can get this through the executive on July 9 and then the full council on July 16, we can carry out that consultation over August and September – that’s not generally a preference we would have, but it can be done.”

Ms Smith-Roberts added: “I truly believe in scrutiny and making sure that it’s voice is heard.

“There are plenty of people who go away outside of school holidays, so you’ll never get to everyone.”

The executive thereby voted to defer any further discussion of the Local Plan until July 9.