The Abergavenny and District Civic Society and the Bryn y Cwm Community Forum have penned a letter to Monmouthshire County Council Leader Peter Fox, with their concerns regarding the merger of one stop shops and libraries into community hubs.

In the letter, Tony Konieczny, Chairman of Abergavenny and District Civic Society and Chris Edmondson, Chairman of the Bryn y Cwm Community Forum said they felt that Abergavenny was getting a disproportionate service and they had concerns that this was more about cost cutting than the service itself.

The letter said, "Whilst acknowledging the difficult financial position that MCC has to contend with and the budget requirement to reduce the spending of the Enterprise Directorate by 20 per cent, the steering committees of both the above associations are concerned that the proposals to manage this change should be evidence based and proportional.

The outline proposal to form community hubs has been tried and tested in other authorities and can serve the community very well if they are well resourced and staffed appropriately.

"We are concerned that the initial proposals to create community hubs in Monmouthshire appear to offer an identical structure for Abergavenny and Chepstow (six FTE posts) with a slightly smaller capacity for Caldicot and Monmouth (five FTE posts)

For Abergavenny this represents almost a 50 per cent reduction from 12.5 FTE posts across the library and OSS services.

"As Abergavenny is the largest settlement in the county, servicing the hinterland of Bryn y Cwm, we feel that the impact here is disproportionate and should like to know how the new proposals will be put into effect as it is difficult to comprehend how less than half of the existing staff will be able to deliver anything but a marked cut in service.

"The predicaments, challenges and needs of the people of North Abergavenny, formerly designated as a Communities First area, have not changed.

"However the greater part of the support to this community has already been lost. They remain the poorest in terms of employment opportunities, health and life expectancy and educational achievement.

There are, of course, pockets of deprivation throughout the county but none on the same scale as Abergavenny.

"In view of this we urge you to look again at the allocation of the limited resources of the community hub so that it more closely reflects and services the socio-economic diversity of every community in the county to meet the different needs and priorities.

"A related concern is our disappointment that the promised consultation on the future of the library has not taken place. We understand that the community hub will bring together library and OSS functions in an unspecified building, probably in Frogmore Street.

"This decision seems to be driven more by the need to make staff cost savings than a clear strategy for the acquisition and disposal of assets. The present location of the OSS (ideal also for a TIC) should not be discarded lightly. We would like to see a full financial analysis of these proposals

"We hope the council will look at these matters closely and share its conclusions with the community that the facilities serve."

When questioned about the letter by the Chronicle, Councillor Bob Green, Deputy Leader of the Council said, "The need to integrate services into hubs does come from the need to make budget cuts but at the same time we are seeking to preserve valued services. There will be savings from reductions in overheads for buildings and it will lead to the disposal of some buildings.

"These are just proposals at the moment and they will be subject to consultation both within MCC and amongst those that use the services.

"If the proposals can be improved through consultation, then the consultations will have been successful, but we need to be clear, no change will lead to service closures which we are trying to avoid."

He also assured the Chronicle that he has opened communications with both Mr Konieczny and Ms Edmondson to discuss their issues further.