A group opposing plans to bring a McDonald's restaurant to Llanfoist has called on the people of Abergavenny to stick to their guns and fight off the food giant as they did some 13 years ago.

With Llanfoist Community Council set to make its recommendations on the planning application for McDonald's in the village, an opposition group of 25 people met this week to discuss local concerns.

The group, which included residents and members of Llanfoist Community Council, Transition Towns, Abergavenny Civic Society, Llanfoist Villagers' Association and Abergavenny Cycle Group, believes that the development is not suitable for the site and will harm Abergavenny's reputation as a food destination.

In 2001 Abergavenny battled McDonald's over plans to open a restaurant near the Hardwick roundabout, defeating the fast food giant at public inquiry and the new group is making its stance on the planning application very clear.

This week it has been highlighted that the McDonald's facility appears to have been outlined on the plans submitted for Premier Inn and Costa Coffee on the site, but not labelled as such - something which has already made many residents uneasy about the proposed development.

A spokesperson for the group said, "The site is perched at the top of the crest of the site and will be highly visible from across Abergavenny. The village of Llanfoist has expanded hugely in the last few years and we believe there have been major oversights in the planning strategy.

"For the, now large, village of Llanfoist to be a sustainable community, it needs to have good pedestrian and cycle links with Abergavenny but these have not been planned into the infrastructure.

"With the increases in traffic, Llanfoist Bridge, Waitrose roundabout and the Westgate roundabout are not safe for walkers and cyclists. A proposed token pedestrian crossing on the A465 slip road that adds more distance to walkers' journeys is not enough. It also needs to be considered that there are very poor facilities for such a large settlement.

"Waitrose is not for everyone. This lack of facilities, in addition to the poor pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, encourages car traffic in and out of Abergavenny."

The group is also calling for residents to be given their chance to comment about the proposals with many who live close to the development area feeling their views have been overlooked.

"The geographical centre of the expanded settlement is now around the Westgate roundabout so this is a very important focus of the community. We must be given the opportunity to have a debate about the facilities the village needs. This seems to have been completely absent from planning considerations to date.

"Imaginative solutions are required that also service the Llanfoist community and Abergavenny. This growing motorway services type complex of national chains such as McDonald's will not provide this but will exacerbate the existing problems. Is there anyone out there prepared to invest in locally appropriate proposals?" said a spokesman.

Llanfoist Community Council will be holding a drop-in consultation in Llanfoist Village Hall tonight (Thurs Oct 2) from 6 - 9 pm where information will be available on the wider Llanfoist Farm /Westgate development.

A petition against the McDonald's proposal will be available for people to see and discuss what they want to do.

The spokesperson from the group added, "The future of Abergavenny and Llanfoist is in the hands of the planning committee represented by your local councillors. They only know your views if you tell them so don't hold back.

"We need to make it clear that not only would a McDonald's be hugely damaging, but planning the future of the village without involving the residents is unacceptable.

"We understand Monmouth has recently fought off McDonald's. Abergavenny did it before with the Hardwick roundabout proposal and we can do it again!

"Some planning decisions have already been made but there are still large areas of the Llanfoist Farm site that are allocated for further development and there should be opportunity to influence future decisions and derive some benefit for the community."

THE?CHRONICLE?has been asked to point out that members of Llanfoist Fawr Community Council who attended the recent public meeting organised by a group of residents opposed to the Westgate Yard development proposals had been invited to attend by the organisers and did so purely in the role of observers.

This was made clear at the start of the meeting and we apologise to anyone who may have been under the impression that the councillors' attendance showed any lack of impartiality on the behalf of the council.