IR,
In your update on the discussions regarding the location of Monmouth market (Beacon Wednesday 13th April), we are shown the depressing truth.
Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) officials see the Shire Hall not as a facility for the whole community, but as a source of direct revenue.
They want to maximise this revenue stream by hosting conferences, weddings etc, and feel that returning the market to its home in front of the Shire Hall will affect their ability to do this.
Based on previous experience, we can therefore reasonably expect that public opinion on the issue of the market will be considered carefully and then ignored.
To me this raises two questions.
First, whether MCC would have received the funding to redevelop the Shire Hall if they had been open about their intentions, which seem to be to develop it as a corporate conference centre, with the public shut out behind iron railings?
Second, whether our county councillors will have the courage to stand up to their officials and ensure that the final decision on the market's location reflects the wishes of the ordinary people who elected them?
(Name and address supplied)