No entry into secret meeting (From Free Press Series)

No entry into secret meeting

MEMBERS of Chepstow's Regeneration Working Group will meet next week to discuss how to solve the current problems blighting the town centre.

But the talks are being held behind closed doors, despite several requests by the Free Press to attend.

We think this is wrong. The regeneration of Chepstow town centre is a huge issue for the town and the recent one-way system farce has done little to instill confidence in local people that the £1.7 million scheme will succeed.

Our readers want to know, and have a right to know, what is being done to sort out the town centre which frankly is a mess at the moment.

With numerous buildings currently boarded up or in a state of disrepair, with huge holes being dug, with scaffolding everywhere and with a traffic system that doesn't work, questions need to be asked about the regeneration project.

Next week's meeting would have been a good opportunity for critics of the scheme to raise the questions, and supporters to answer them.

But the public have been barred - and so has the Free Press.

We have been informed by Monmouthshire County Council that as the regeneration group is classed as a 'working group', it does not fall under the acts of legislation that allow the press to attend a public meeting.

Instead, working group members were advised that they could decide whether they wanted to allow the press in - they voted to bar us.

Included on the agenda will be the traffic situation in Chepstow. Many residents and business owners are furious about the recent one-way system farce which hit traders in the pockets and disrupted people's every day lives.

Many of our readers feel that their concerns and warnings are not being listened to. That's why it is imperative that councillors think again before holding next week's meeting.

By holding these vital talks in secret, the question has to be asked: What has the working group got to hide?