MONMOUTH residents who won’t take no for an answer have met AM Nick Ramsay to discuss the refusal of the Hadnock Road hotel and spa.

Mr Ramsay met with residents of Riverside Park on Monday 18th December as they demand more answers following a ministerial decision in October to reject the planning application.

The visit followed months of protest from the residents, who remain “baffled” by the government’s justification that the development on that site, very close to the park and the Monmouth Preparatory School, would be a “risk to lives” due to potential flooding.

Plans for the premium leisure and wellness hotel and spa at the Valley Enterprise Park had been on the table for nearly three years, and despite unanimous approval by Monmouthshire County Council’s planning committee in October 2016, the Welsh Government took the application out of the council’s hands the following month.

Campaigners argue that the hotel and spa application would have created the equivalent of more than 150 full-time jobs, as well as a significant tourism boost for the town.

The proposal would also have transformed the derelict 11 acre industrial site which has been unoccupied for more than nine years.

Welsh ministers concluded that the primary reason for the refusal was that the 60-bed hotel was a ‘highly vulnerable development’ and should not be permitted in a flood zone.

In letters seen by the Beacon, protests by park resident Tommy Need in particular have reached Lesley Griffiths AM, Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, and First Minister Carwyn Jones.

Mrs Griffiths has responded to Mr Need stating only: “the application was considered to raise planning issues which could conflict with national planning policies in respect of flooding and which, therefore, comprised issues of more than local importance.”

She added: “the decision of the Welsh Ministers on a called-in application shall be final.”

But not deterred, Mr Need continues to seek a better explanation for the people of Monmouth.

He said: “If someone could give us a reasonable explanation then fine, but things just don’t add up at the moment.

Mr Need said: “The park has been there for 35 years and never flooded. I know I’m safe because I monitor the river levels through Natural Resources Wales, so there’s no risk to life on the hotel site. The water would have to come through my house to get to them – we’re the buffer between the river and the Valley Enterprise Park – so either we’re safe and therefore the hotel is safe, or we’re really not safe, and we need to be told that.

“We’ll carry on pressing Mrs Griffiths and Mr Jones, and eventually I think an inquiry needs to be held about how planning decisions are reached.”

Following his visit, Mr Ramsay added: “The residents consider they always have adequate warning of flooding and are permitted to live on the riverbank.

“The land proposed for the new hotel and spa had never flooded and residents always use this land as an escape route. The decision seems totally illogical to them.

“I’ve already asked the Welsh Government to reconsider its unpopular decision, but this request was turned down. Local people are very disappointed about this lost opportunity, and fear the site will never be redeveloped. It is a prime site in the gateway to Wales with universal local backing and would have provided welcome employment and a huge boost to tourism locally.

“Local people want answers, so I will be asking the Welsh Government for a meeting with residents in the New Year and raising the matter with Ken Skates AM, the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy.

“It’s simply not acceptable that such a great opportunity is missed.”