SIR,

It is with utter disbelief that we are advised that plans to develop the old Dixton Road Clinic with access through The Burgage have now inexplicably been approved despite previously being rejected.

Yes – the development is welcomed and indeed, most of the original objections have been suitably addressed but...

Why does a planning refusal quite suddenly become an acceptance without the key safety issues being addressed?

The Burgage is a thoroughly inappropriate access point.

Vehicular entry should be directly from Dixton Road where there is already a convenient lay-by, and an option which has been approved by Highways Dept.

How will civic and emergency service vehicles traverse the narrow Burgage which becomes too narrow for wider vehicles such as fire appliances, as has been regrettably demonstrated in the recent past resulting in the loss of the Alms houses, and despite several residents parking their vehicles wholly or partly on the pavements.

Why is public safety not heeded when health and safety concerns take absolute priority in any decisions made?

Who will claim to be blameless when a child is hurt (or worse), or when the inevitable motor accident occurs on the most treacherous road junction in the town?

Why does Monmouthshire County Council take no notice of the good folk that comprise Monmouth Town Council, who have expressed their condemnation of Burgage access whenever the plans have been reviewed?

Who is responsible for imprudently ignoring professionally-made recommendations and overturning their own decisions?

Why is local knowledge and public opinion of no concern?

Does anyone in County Hall really know or care about our county town? Apparently not.

MC Kennard

(Monmouth)