Monmouth Town Council has successfully secured a grant of over £9,000 from the Wye Valley National Landscape (formerly AONB) to improve the appearance of the subway and underpass in Monmouth adjacent to the Wye Bridge traffic lights.

With match funding from the town council, there is now a total budget of over £12,500.

Councillors felt the appearance of the A40 subway - a safe route to school - was a deterrent for people using it and suggested that the painting of murals and improving the lighting within the subway would improve the route used by pedestrians.

However, the working group have now decided to include the underpass leading to the rowing club in the project where a number of mosaics that were made by schools and community groups have been on view for around 15 years.

The tile mosaics reflect some of Monmouth’s history and were made by the infant and junior schools of Osbaston, Wyesham and Overmonnow around 2009 with support from groups such as Wyesham WI, and the proposal to remove these mosaics to somewhere like the Shire Hall has split the community with some feeling strongly that the mosaics should stay where they are.

James Ralph, was one of the pupils at Osbaston School who remembers making up the mosaics along with his sister and has started a petition to keep them where they are.

He says: “I hope that the town councillors can understand that people are proud of these artworks. I took part in creating one and it gives me something I can point to and be proud I did it.

“Proud to be a part of the community, something I can show to friends and hopefully one day to my children. To remove the artwork and lock it up indoors only to replace it at great cost seems ridiculous when so many services are being cut. It’s a waste of time and money,” he added.

The considerations by town council that they could either be incorporated in the future design of the underpass, cleaned or re-sited in a more prominent part of the town are ongoing and no decision has been made as to their future. Local groups have been contacted for their opinion and project leaders claim some have already expressed a desire to have them returned; alternative sites within the town have been identified and investigations as to the practicalities of these locations are ongoing.

At the outset of this project, councillors saw the A40 underpass as a community-based project that could bring together the local schools and organisations, encouraging a feeling of pride in a part of town that has often been neglected and misused.

As the project developed, and a funding application was drafted, it was agreed to include the second underpass that leads from Old Dixton Road to the Monmouth Rowing Club with the same ambition to brighten the walkway.

As part of the discussions regarding the improvement of the underpass, thought was given to either keeping the mosaics or removing and offering them to the groups that had originally made them.

The considerations by town council that they could either be incorporated in the future design of the underpass, or cleaned and re-sited in a more prominent part of the town are ongoing and as of yet, no decision has been made as to their future.

A group of volunteer councillors have cleaned the mosaics but no decision has been made.

Councillors appreciate that this is an emotive subject with many locals being able to claim their square of the mosaics and for this reason, no decision will be made without consultation.

Councillors are preparing a survey that will be available in person as well as online so that the opinion of the town’s residents can be ascertained before a decision is made about the mosaics.