Sir,

There is a wonderful Yiddish word "chutzpah", which has come into common parlance.

Loosely translated it means having overwhelming cheek, audacity and gall.

Ms Kellie Beirne, chief officer for regeneration and culture, at Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) seems to have an abundance of "chutzpah".

Despite overwhelming support for the market to return to Agincourt Square and constant calls for a public meeting to be held, Ms Beirne now proposes that she receives views in writing and then to hold an evidence gathering exercise in the Shire Hall on 9th May.

It would appear that she does not read the Beacon and is conveniently ignoring all the letters calling for the return of the market.

She is also ignoring the petition signed by over 3,000 people and virtually every independent retailer, which will be formally presented to MCC this week.

She also has the audacity to state that if the majority view is that the market should return "it will be taken into account" as it will generate "options and opportunities for us to look at".

There is no commitment to accept the democratic view of the people of Monmouth.

She also states that an online survey will be available, but there is no mention of where this can be found and what form it will take.

The evidence gathering exercise will be chaired by Mark Gardner, chief executive of Melin Homes "independent from the council".

I do not know whether Mr Gardner has a market research background, nor do I question his integrity, but I do know that he is Ms Beirne's previous employer.

This issue has been dogged by obfuscation, mis-information, contradictory statements and sheer pig-headedness on the part of MCC.

The entire matter could have been sorted out a long time ago if there had been a public meeting.

However, it is doubtful whether this will occur so I would urge everyone to write to the council, participate in the online survey, and make your feeling known on 9th May in Agincourt Square.

Let's ensure that non-elected officials are not allowed to ride roughshod over the will of the people.

Neill Bell

(Monmouth)