Eden District Council (EDC) has announced the dates of a public exhibition that will enable local residents in Penrith to comment on proposals for the multi-million pound development of Penrith New Squares.

The exhibition will take place between 17 and 19 September at the town's leisure centre, as well as an online consultation that will launch mid-August, in order to determine which of the three options for the three-stage scheme put forward by the council will be taken forward. A new Sainsbury's supermarket is included in the first two options, along with a new town square, a landscaped pedestrian link to Princes Street and 32 affordable homes, while the third option will see the existing plans discarded and the site re-marketed to potential developers.

EDC chief executive Kevin Douglas said: "The purpose of the consultation is to get people's views so the councillors can consider these when they make their final decision and also for the public to highlight their concerns so that the Council can look to respond to them in making their decision." The Penrith New Squares development ran into delays after developer Lowther Manelli was forced to suspend work in October 2008 when the National Australia Bank withdrew funding as a result of the recession.