November 4 is the deadline to have your say on Swindon's future housing, jobs and green space.

These issues are among many being considered as the council draws up its draft local plan for land use in the borough until 2011.

Government planning guidance means the town must find space for 7,500 new homes by then.

Coun Keith Small (Lab, Western), lead member for transport and environmental services, said: "This plan affects everybody.

"It's vital for organisations and residents to be involved in shaping the plan because it'll have significant implications for the development of our borough over the next 10 years and beyond."

The plan will be the authority's definitive guide when deciding on planning applications.

Planning officers and housing committee members will use it for guidance when trying to ensure that new development is of the best possible quality and in the most appropriate locations.

Previous plans have been the subject of heated debate between people advocating more development and those who feel the town already has enough.

The new one will probably be no exception, with the need for extra houses likely to provoke intense argument over where they should be.

Swindon's local policy team leader, Richard Bell, explained: "Inevitably, the local plan has to balance a variety of competing interests.

"Among them are the needs for new houses and for protecting the best of the countryside."

Anybody needing information about where copies of the draft are available for inspection should contact the council on Swindon 463000.