What’s good about your community - and how could it be improved? These are key topics that have been discussed in recent weeks with the residents of Monmouthshire.

Public services in the county have been spending time in schools, community centres and shopping centres trying to find out what people value about their local areas and what could be done better.

In 2018, organisations including the local authority, NHS, police, fire and rescue and Natural Resources Wales will have to set shared priorities and tell residents about the things they will do together.

Their plans have to be based on a clear understanding of local areas, using statistics, the views of local people, research and an understanding of future trends in things like transport, technology, climate and healthcare that will affect how people’s needs could be met differently in the future.

So far more than a thousand people in the county have shared their thoughts at events or posted them online.

Things people have been talking about include:

* Ensuring there’s enough affordable housing to enable people to live and work locally

* The challenges of transport in a rural area.

* Looking after the landscape - being able to get out and enjoy the countryside.

* The need to maintain some of the things that make Monmouthshire such a good place to live for future generations - like theatres, museums and independent retailers, pubs, restaurants and eateries.

* Providing more things for children and young people to do.

* Waste collection and the cleanliness of streets divided opinions.

Residents can see more detail about what people have been saying on monmouthshire.madeopen.co.uk

If these aren’t the things that matter to you, there’s still time to have your say by visiting monmouthshire.gov.uk/our-monmouthshire or posting your thoughts on social media using the hashtag #OurMonmouthshire.

You can also leave comments at Abergavenny one-stop-shop and the council’s community hubs in Usk, Chepstow, Caldicot and Monmouth.