A PUBLIC meeting to consider the formation of a Friends of Bailey Park will take place on Thursday at the Abergavenny Rugby Club.

Starting at 6pm, representatives of all groups who use the park, along with local residents and other are invited to air their views on the management and development of the park.

The proposed Friends of Bailey Park will mean user groups, residents and others will be able to play an active role in the management and future development of Bailey Park.

This independent group will represent community views to Monmouthshire County Council, the police, town council and other bodies involved in managing the park.

Richard Lewis of Rural Community Action said, "Many funding bodies such as the Heritage Lottery now insist on a Friends group being in place before they will support a project to ensure that community views are paramount . Many other grants are accessible only to community groups and not to MCC for example. "Furthermore, local authorities do not have the funding they had in the past to maintain 'non-essential' services."

If there is a positive response to the proposals at the public meeting, Rural Community Action and MCC recreation officer Tim Bradfield will assist the group to get it started.

Tim Bradfield said, "A Friends group would be fully constituted, self managed and independent of the county council. There are plans for major improvements in the park which wait the availability of funding. The community needs to be involved in any such initiative."