A PACKED public meeting voted unanimously to reject both final designs for the regeneration of Abergavenny's cattle market.

On Monday night the Bryn y Cwm Community Forum hosted the meeting which attracted around 70 members of public. Forum members say they have delivered a "clear message" to Monmouthshire County Council before the final two plans go to a design selection panel.

The meeting, held at St Michael's Centre, was chaired by Alan Michie and was called with the aim of giving the community a chance to learn more about the Asda supermarket designs and discuss the merits of both options.

Members of the forum wanted to gauge public opinion on which designs were preferred.

Two designs have been on display for the last two weeks in the One Stop Shop in Abergavenny and in around the town. They were also on display at the meeting.

The debate was introduced by Rick Longford for Monmouthshire County Council Economic Development Manager, who outlined the background to the schemes.

The two designs which had been rejected by MCC as not economically viable were also on display and were debated by the forum.

John Grant explained the potential traffic problems and said there was an issue over lack of support for the scheme by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Chairman, Mr Michie introduced several representatives of local groups to give their views on the two designs during the meeting.

Before the meeting was open to members of the public Susi Cernoch, president of Abergavenny Chamber of Trade gave her concerns. John Wilson for the town's Civic Society said the designs were of "unacceptably poor quality" and deplored the "lack of vision and imagination" of MCC.

Architect Peter Brown, for the Abergavenny Development Forum, gave a summary critique of the designs, rating them "poor and unimaginative." The ADF had scored all four designs against the Bryn y Cwm Forum's statement of requirements and the two designs rejected by MCC scored much higher than the two chosen designs.

Barry Greenwood representing Friends of the Earth said he thought all the designs were "unacceptable on sustainability criteria" and said the superstore would irreparably damage the local economy. "The planning committee has rejected the previous scheme for this reason," he added.

Town councillor Norma Watkins said although she represents the ward that included Communities First she was giving her individual opinion that her constituents were annoyed at being portrayed as "people only interested in cheap food. The proposed Aldi store would serve the town's needs better and is less damagingly," she said.

Jenny Barnes for CAIR said the designs did not meet the criteria for people with disabilities, and not just wheelchair users.

The meeting was then opened to all and members of the audience and a succession of people made a wide number of different points, critical of the two schemes that had been offered for consultation.

Mr Michie said, "The meeting was given the chance to vote for the preferred design option. However, when I called for the vote, not a single person voted for either of the two designs, but instead the meeting voted unanimously to reject both of them as unacceptable."

The forum say they want the Design Selection Committee to take note of their opinion and the reflection of public opinion when deciding on the next step in the process of regenerating Abergavenny.

Mr Michie added, "The forum are also prepared to discuss in more detail with Monmouthshire County Council the issues raised at the meeting."

After the meeting Abergavenny's Chamber of Trade president, Susi Cernoch said, "I was at the meeting expressing the Chamber of Trade's concerns about the scheme and the fact that they are not going to offer the regeneration that we are looking for.

"The result was absolutely unequivocal, people felt that we need a supermarket and we all agree on that.

"We put our views across because we are concerned about stability for our businesses and we are looking forward to Monmouthshire Council Council's response.

"It is going to be interesting to see if they proceed knowing our discontent."