THE future of council housing in Hartlepool will be one of the key issues up for discussion at a round of meetings to be held early next month.

Presentations on the proposed housing stock transfer will take place at the meetings of Hartlepool Borough Council's north, central and south neighbourhood consultative forums.

The council is proposing to transfer the ownership and management of its 8,000 homes to Housing Hartlepool, a new, independent, not-for-profit local housing organisation, if tenants vote in favour of the move in a secret postal ballot.

The forthcoming meetings will take place at:

* North Neighbourhood Consultative Forum - Wednesday at 10am in West View Community Centre, Miers Avenue.

* Central Neighbourhood Consultative Forum - Thursday at 10am in the Town Hall Theatre.

* South Neighbourhood Consultative Forum - Friday at 10am in the Owton Manor Community Centre, Wynyard Road.

Other items for discussion in the north include a sport improvement project on the Headland.

There will also be an update from the North Hartlepool Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) Partnership.

In the south, there will be a report on the Seaton Carew Tourism Strategy.

Following each of the neighbourhood consultative forums there will be separate forum meetings to discuss the Hartlepool Local Plan revisions.

These will start at noon in the north and central and 11.30am in the south.