'RAGLAN'S future is in your hands' proclaims a poster devised by local school children to encourage residents to help plan and shape the future of their village.

Residents of the Monmouthshire village are being invited to a special community event on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 to canvas opinion on the various ways to document and improve the area.

The event at the Old School in Chepstow Road, Raglan is open from 2.30pm to 7pm on Friday and 10am to 3pm on Saturday for people from Raglan, Llandenny and Penyclawdd areas to drop in and talk to members of the community led planning steering group.

This group of volunteers has been set up in conjunction with Adventa, part of Momouthshire's Rural Development Plan, to develop a shared vision for the long-term sustainability of the village and how it should develop over the next five to 10 years.

The plan can then be used to influence local area planning decisions, support funding applications and influence service providers.

Shirley Hughes, Adventa's Social Enterprise Development Officer said: "Developing the plan together is an ongoing opportunity for all villagers to get involved in community affairs and activities.

"There will be no formal presentations, it's just a chance for people to make their views known over free tea and cake. They can note down their views, put them on flipcharts or simply talk to the Steering Group.

"Once the views of adults and children in the Raglan Community have been collected together in this way, the Steering Group will develop a Questionnaire which will be circulated to every household in the Raglan Community."

When the results have been collated and communicated to the village, they will be converted into an agreed Action Plan, which, together with Raglan Community Council and village residents will move forward.

• Raglan is being used as the pilot scheme for a series of community led plans which will be rolled out to 11 more villages and rural communities across Monmouthshire.