The major redevelopment of Abergavenny town centre will begin next Monday, Monmouthshire County Council has confirmed.

Council engineers have drawn up plans to re-pave and resurface Abergavenny’s town centre from Market Street junction with Lion Street, run through Lion Street and Frogmore Street as far as White Horse Lane.

The works will include the entrance to the new Morrison’s store.

Full details of the £700,000 redevelopment are yet to be revealed following discussions with community stakeholders, interest groups and town and county councillors. The work is expected to take around six months.

Confirming the move, a council spokesman said, “We’re preparing the site for the Lion Street and Frogmore Street scheme this week and works will start on Monday, January 15 as planned.

“These include a shared space area fronting the new Morrison’s site and also a pedestrianised area on Frogmore Street from the Wetherspoon public house, to Whitehorse Lane.

As part of the plans it’s proposed that the area fronting the new Morrison’s store will be a shared space constructed with a mixture of granite setts and slabs, in keeping with the existing Brewery Yard scheme.

This area will provide a safer link from the Morrison’s store into Abergavenny’s town centre.

The remainder of Lion Street, (King Street junction to start of Frogmore Street) will be a typical highway arrangement, incorporating full height kerbs and granite footways with a traditional tarmac carriageway.

It is also proposed that Frogmore Street be a shared space constructed with a mixture of Welsh Pennant setts and slabs. This arrangement will complement Phase One of the works and link the two halves of the town.

The current estimated cost for the scheme is £700,000, which will be part-funded by the Morrison’s development.

Alun Griffiths, a local contractor based in Abergavenny, who undertook last year’s works, has again been appointed as the main contractor for the Phase Two improvements to the town centre.

This scheme will require road closures to complete the work safely. During the road closure periods, diversion routes will be in place as well as safe routes for pedestrians throughout the town.

An extensive survey, issued by MCC, will gauge the impact of the significant redevelopment regarding traffic and congestion issues during the six-month project.

It is understood that the area will be ‘pedestrian-lite’ with traffic prohibited between 10am and 4pm.

MCC has yet to confirm alternative plans for the buses and taxis which use the area extensively.

Development puts squeeze on parking spaces

PARKING spaces in Abergavenny are set for a squeeze as Monmouthshire County Council put up the barriers at a number of car parks to undertake work in connection with the Morrison’s development.

The smaller of Abergavenny’s Tiverton Place car parks will be unavailable for up to six months to accommodate the contractor’s compound for works taking place on Lion Street.

In the larger car park a container will be located near the pay and display machine but this will reduce the number of spaces only slightly.

Also in Abergavenny, the exit of Fairfield car park closed on January 3 for up to 12 weeks to allow for highways works to the Morrison’s supermarket development.

Vehicles will be directed to leave the car park via the current entrance.

Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for car parking, Councillor Bryan Jones said, ‘I apologise for any inconvenience caused to visitors and shoppers by these absolutely necessary works.

“In each case, there are suitable car park spaces close by.’-