PARISH councils in the Berkeley area are to be invited to a meeting next week to discuss formulating a development plan for the area.

Following a request from Hinton Parish Council after the idea was mooted by district councillor Gordon Craig, Berkeley Town Council agreed to invite an expert from Gloucestershire Rural Community Council.

A completed neighbourhood development plan would feed into the district council’s local plan to guide development in the area and determine planning applications.

The town council will also send invitations for the meeting to neighbouring parish councils.

The discussion will form part of the town’s annual meeting which is due to take place on March 20.