DEVELOPERS of the Abergavenny Cattle Market site have revealed that they hope the site will be up and running by 2007. Outline plans for Abergavenny's Cattle Market site commissioned by developers Henry Boot went on display to members of the public at St Mary's Priory Centre last week. The plans revealed that in addition to a 28,000 sq ft Asda store, there will be space for two retail outlets - 10,500 sq ft and 5,500 sq ft respectively. Developers hope to use stone from the slaughterhouse complex currently occupying the site, which will be demolished, to use in the construction of the proposed library and cinema complex. The proposed cinema will have two screens one with 99 seats and another with 210 seats. There will be basement and ground floor parking and 30 residential flats backing onto Priory Lane. The plans, featured at the day-long exhibition at St Mary's Priory Centre, went on display last Friday morning at the One Stop Shop in Abergavenny where they are expected to be on show for at least a fortnight. The display is part of an unofficial consultation as Henry Boot seek the views of local people concerning the project before hopefully submitting a planning application to Monmouthshire County Council in the new year. To preserve the memory of the site Henry Boot have commissioned a full photographic survey as the building work progresses for Monmouthshire County Council's photographic records. "Monmouthshire County Council have yet to reach an agreement with a couple of people who have retail units on the site but as soon as the site is vacant and plans are approved we think that everything could be up and running as early as 2007," said a Henry Boot spokesman. "No agreement has been signed with a cinema operator and anyone who has looked at the recent attempts to bring a cinema to the town will know that cinemas are difficult to get up and running but we are hopeful that an operator will come forward to occupy the site that is set aside." Monmouthshire County Council's Head of resources and performance management Clive Hamersley said, "The key thing for me is in the last year and a bit we have had to be really quiet about what is happening because we have been negotiating with Henry Boot and they have been negotiating with Asda. "This whole project comes out of something called the three towns initiative from as far back as 1997 when we identified the importance of this particular project for Abergavenny as the defining project for the town. "We are now talking about something very real for the town. "The consultation is the run up to a detailed planning consultation which Henry Boot will submit to Monmouthshire County Council and we want people's views and input as to what they want for the town."
