PEOPLE living in Ryedale are to get their say about the development of a 25-year master plan for the area.

The Renaissance Market Towns (RMT) initiative for Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering aims to make the towns places where people want to live, work, invest in and visit.

Three lead consultants will work with the towns and their surroundings, to develop a 25-year vision. The consultants, Mary Holt, of Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and Co Limited, Steven Leach, of Fourgables, and Iain Scott, of the Robert Owen Centre, will then put together a master plan and an investment plan.

An information session on the RMT in the Fox and Hounds Inn, Sinnington, last week, attracted more than 40 people, and residents, traders and community groups will soon get their chance to add their views to the project.

Yorkshire Forward has called the RMT a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to look at where we want to be in 20 years time" and has appointed a panel of international experts to liaise with local communities.

Chief executive of Ryedale District Council Harold Mosley said the RMT was not just for the towns, but for the villages as well.