SIR,
I am glad to see that the tax payers of Monmouth town are keeping up the pressure on Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) in respect of the future of the street markets and the Shire Hall.
I hope that elected councillors strengthen their control of council employees, and resist the temptation to allow themselves to be led by the nose by those who appear to be confused as to their true function and attempt to maintain their position by using obscure language best described as 'management babble'.
All concerned need to understand that a council's function is to provide and/ or facilitate services required and requested by the public.
Those best placed to judge what is necessary for the health of commerce in a town are those who live and work there.
It is not for paid officials, or indeed councillors from other towns, to frustrate that town's wishes, but to seek to gratify them.
And it has to be accepted that what meets Monmouth's needs may well be different from what meets Abergavenny's or Chepstow's.
But since there is no merit in conformity, for its own sake, this should not stand in the way in the exercise of common sense, something which appears to be sadly lacking at present.
What, for example, prevents resumption of the market outside the Shire Hall while MCC gets its act together?
The town would probably like to hear the answers in plain English/ Welsh.
V F Kimber
(Penallt)