TRADERS in Abergavenny are annoyed that they were not invited to a meeting between Monmouthshire County Council and Capita Symonds over the town's car parks.

Chamber of Trade president Susi Cernoch told members at last week's annual meeting that she only found out about the meeting at the last minute so she cancelled an appointment to go along with David Haswell to represent traders.

She said: "I think it's a cheek not to get invited because our members have the biggest stake in car parking charges. We have 1,353 car parking spaces in Abergavenny compared with 500 in Monmouth so we contribute most to the pot of money Monmouthshire receives from charging."

Mr Haswell agreed. "We contribute above our weight in terms of revenue because we have more car parks and they are fuller than the other towns. They have now given an undertaking to make up for the insult in not consulting us by giving a presentation to the Chamber of Trade. Neither did they invite the Development Forum nor the Tourist Association.

"This is about how the car parking concept helps in regenerating the town. Instead of bringing in charges for Sundays and between 5 - 6pm why not do away with charging on one day a week, apparently Newport council is planning to do that and have occasional free parking at weekends."

Ms Cernoch said she had held an interesting discussion with officers about the insufficient parking at the west end of town, the possibility of charging for parking in Byefield Lane and the percentage of people who pay for two hours' parking when they are only popping into one place so they only take 20 minutes.

James Joseph said he understood the council was looking at a one-hour charge and pointed out that Monmouthshire probably made quite a lot of money because they do not give change in their car park machines and many people therefore pay over the odds when they cannot find the right change. He said one council had made hundreds of thousands of pounds because of this.

He pointed out that between 20 - 30p profit is made from every pound which leaves one questioning whether there should be any charge at all.

Mr Haswell said they should encourage the council to make as broad a presentation as possible to the Chamber of Trade. "I got the feeling that Capita Symonds were open to suggestions and we should capitalise on that. Abergavenny contributes so much more that it subsidises the other towns.

Ms Cernoch said it was hoped that plenty of retailers would be at the meeting when the presentation is held because many of them had complained their businesses were affected by car parking charges. It would give them a chance to put their case to the council.

James Joseph suggested it would benefit the shops if the first half an hour was free to allow people to visit one or two shops in that time but Nigel Bevan said they would still need a ticket to prove what time they arrived.

Mr Haswell said Stroud had introduced a free hour which starts at 4pm and this would suit people like him who popped into town at the end of the day when the car parks, shops and post office are quieter.

Ms Cernoch said: "Abergavenny is a fantastic little place and when visitors do get here we want to give them a good experience.

"Looking at the changes which are happening in the town it is obvious the struggle is not over, but some businesses seem to have done really well and adapted, and we have a new business opened in Frogmore Street.

"We rely on these small businesses," she added.