ABERGAVENNY could be in the 'last chance saloon' when it comes to persuading members of Monmouthshire's planning committee to listen to the many suggestions put forward by the developer for the cattle market site, which Abergavenny Development Forum claims have not yet been presented to the councillors.

David Haswell, the group's chairman said the group is aware that there are alternative options available, but says that these have never been made available for discussion.

He added: "In three weeks time its likely that the local authority will be deciding the fate of Morrisons' cattle market application.

Monmouthshire County Council has been very coy about the details of its contract with Morrisons, refusing to publish the value of the bid, which we believe is some £16 million and exceeds the last published cost of the redevelopment of £11.5m by at least £4 million."

Mr Haswell suggests that this amount includes the 'abortive professional fees' over the Henry Boot application, the cost of the replacement market at Raglan, the new library and its contribution to the Brewery Yard regeneration scheme.

Changing the submitted plan so that the store fronts onto Lion Street has been suggested by many local groups and Mr Haswell says he think this would unite the town with the new development.

"It will also create a better townscape and completes the development in this area,"?he said.

This recommendation was part of the original Henry Boot / Asda scheme in 2004 and Mr Haswell said, "We shouldn't allow Morrisons to dictate to us where they want to position the building.

"We should be telling them where it should go, after all its what local interest groups have requested.

"Perhaps this is one of the schemes that has not been presented to the Monmouthshire County Councillors."

Mr Haswell said,"It will be for our local members to argue this line in the corridors of county hall, but surely the first duty of the authority is to ensure that Morrisons' inappropriate suburban proposals are raised to an acceptable level of architectural quality.

"To date the authority's planning officers have shown no appetite for ensuring that Morrisons respond to the reasonable aspirations of the town groups, or indeed Monmouthshire's own policies on designs and historic buildings."

Mr Haswell added that he feared that under 'normal Monmouthshire procedures' the cash surplus from the bid would be swept away from Abergavenny into the central capital programme and spent on projects across the county.

He added: "Many residents take the view that Abergavenny will be losing a much valued asset in the cattle market to make way for this development and that any unexpected windfall surplus should be reinvested locally into regeneration projects in this town."