Cash earmarked to redevelop market area (From Free Press Series)

Cash earmarked to redevelop market area

MORE than £400,000 will be set aside to upgrade the area surrounding Abergavenny cattle market when it is redeveloped, Monmouthshire County Council has pledged.

The council's financial director Steve Greenslade gave an undertaking that £420,000 will be contributed towards upgrading Market Street, Brewery Yard and Lion Street when a new foodstore is built on the market site.

The county planning committee has given the go-ahead to the outline plans by the council to build a 25,000 sq ft foodstore, 31 flats of which 20 percent will be affordable housing, a new library and five retail and office units in the old slaughterhouse buildings.

Chris Jones, the council's principal economic development officer said they had received 25 bids from companies interested in developing the site, and had narrowed these down to a shortlist of six.

Cllr Chris Woodhouse told the planning committee: "This is our last chance, if we get this wrong an out-of-town development will see us off. We must make it the very exciting development it should be.

"This is our opportunity to keep the prosperity and vitality of Abergavenny and we want the same amount of consultation with local people at the design stage.

"The redevelopment of the cattle market needs to be complementary to our lovely Market Hall and it needs to be an integral part of Market Street and the rest of the town.

"I would like to see the final design shown to as many people as possible. There are mistakes made with the map and I have worried that the plans are as it could be not as it may be.

"We need to look at the buildings and see if they are good for something before they are knocked down. I hope it coincides with the upgrading of Bailey Park."

Cllr John Major agreed with him. "There is a case for retaining the old slaughterhouse buildings. You know what Newport did with their regeneration - they knocked down everything of architectural merit, and we don't want Abergavenny doing the same."

The vice-chairman Cllr Bob Wilcox added: "This is an exciting project which we've talked about for years."