I have been very pleased by the way and the extent we are interacting with local people, organisations and business as we shape the future of our county from 2025/6.

We are consulting on our Replacement Local Development Plan (RLDP) which will allocate land for sustainable development, designate land for protection and contain policies to provide the basis for decisions on future planning applications.

It contributes to the council’s aims of becoming a net zero carbon county and supporting well-being, health and dignity for everyone at every stage of life.

As such it assists in meeting our core objectives, such as responding to the climate and nature emergencies, ensuring our communities are socially and economically sustainable, attracting and retaining younger people to rebalance our ageing demographic, and stimulating quality employment and viable business growth.

Already great conversations about the plans have been taking place in our towns and villages at face-to-face events, with honest opinions freely expressed. So far many of the conversations have centred around the need for affordable housing, eco-homes, health facilities and traffic issues.

Hundreds of people have also given their reactions using the online form on our website. Still more have been actively involved in online discussions and businesses are taking part too. And on social media we have had more than 30,000 responses.

The plan itself is complex and detailed, but even if you cannot understand it all, we still want to have your ideas. And we are especially keen to hear from younger people, for our plans will shape their future lives, too.

There is still about a week to go before we need to move to the next stage, so please do get in touch if you have views about your future in Monmouthshire: the deadline is next Monday after which we will be assessing all we have been told by you and fine tuning our approach, taking into account what we have learned.

In the coming months our teams will make sure they continue to work with other organisations to offer the best solution on all these fronts. And when we have finished this process, the plans will go to the Welsh Government, be examined by an independent planning expert.

Finally, it is scheduled to be adopted between the middle of 2025 and spring 2026 – after which it will be reviewed annually to ensure that it is working effectively.

It has been huge undertaking and I am so pleased that so many of you are getting involved.