A COMPETITION will be held to choose an image to illustrate the cover of a new long-term plan for the parish of Oxenhope.

The idea for the document – the Oxenhope Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) – was suggested at a meeting of Oxenhope Parish Council.

Councillor Peter McManus said the contest would further help to demonstrate the community engagement aspect of the plan, which is now in its early draft form.

Council chairman Cllr Ken Eastwood said that although he has seen some attractive, long distance images of the village, it would be good to use a picture which shows something more distinctive about Oxenhope.

The full details of the competition and how to enter have still to be confirmed.

The NDP, which should be a statutory document once complete, will set out the village’s priorities for the future, and will enable local people to influence what type of building developments are constructed in Oxenhope and where they should be located.

Cllr McManus stressed that the early draft of the plan has no legal standing, and that he and the rest of the NDP team were involving local people as much as possible in the process.

“Once we reach the end of September we’ll begin the process of preparing a formal first draft,” he added.

He said the plan had attracted plenty of interest when recently showcased at Oxenhope Village Fete and the Manorlands Garden Party.