MORRISONS' plans for a foodstore on Abergavenny Cattle Market have been put on hold while the plans are amended to meet with concerns.

George Ashworth, head of planning for Monmouthshire County Council told the Chronicle yesterday that he was in the middle of reconsultation with Morrisons because the company has changed the design of their £16million scheme.

He said: "They have changed the elevations to the service yard which were very unsatisfactory and the rear elevation to the library has been lowered. The original scheme was very blank with a very large facade."

He said the company had also looked at whether it was feasible to move the foodstore building to the Lion Street end of the Cattle Market site. "But this is not feasible because the two don't live together very easily with the very large building that is Morrisons dominating the much smaller buildings on Lion Street.

"Keeping the position of the foodstore at the other end of the site means it will have minimal impact on residents because we had to consider the two blocks of flats in Hereford Road."

He said that studies have shown shoppers don't walk straight from a supermarket into the high street, so it was more feasible to have the car park in between.

When pressed on that point he agreed that the Asda scheme, which he recommended for approval, had the superstore close to Lion Street, as did the 2004 scheme drawn up by the council and approved by all the town groups. But he said the 2004 scheme was on a much smaller scale and the store had been set back from Lion Street. "It is better to have the building away from Lion Street and have a well landscaped car park in between."

Talking about the changes which have been negotiated he said: "I welcome the changes to Morrisons' original scheme which followed consultation between our planning department and their architects."

The five major town groups - Abergavenny Town Council, Chamber of Trade, Development Forum, Bryn y Cwm Forum and Civic Society - have given their approval for the Urban Design drawn up by the Development Forum.

Asked whether he also liked the design Mr Ashworth said: "I do like the layout of the Urban Design but they have less car parking spaces which leads to a shorter time space for parking and then shoppers will not use the town centre shops. It does not give shoppers time to go into town to do their shopping and then visit the supermarket to fill their freezer.

"To have the car park between the town centre and the supermarket works best in terms of linkage so shoppers make the linked trips."

Morrisons' response, in their design and access statement to MCC, to the Urban Option of placing the store next to Lion Street is that it would be difficult to provide an elevation that responds well to Lion Street.

It will be at least June before the Morrisons' scheme is considered by the county planning committee.