Why was Shire Hall not used for meeting?

SIR,

I am a council tax payer concerned by the use of public money during a recession.

On 12th January I attended a public meeting, hosted by the Monmouth Partnership Forum, where a presentation was given by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) officers explaining the traffic trial in the 'narrows' of Monnow Street.

The arguments for and against the traffic trial will no doubt be included in the Beacon this week.

My concern is the public meeting should have been held in the Shire Hall but instead public money was used to pay for a meeting room elsewhere.

The Shire Hall was open and staffed on the evening of 12th January. With one room booked for a meeting, plenty of rooms were available for an MCC presentation to the public.

The Monmouth Partnership Forum was named in the Heritage Lottery Fund application as stakeholders in the Shire Hall project – the forum should be supporting the project by using the Shire Hall for all of its meetings.

MCC owns the building and officers should use it for all meetings involving the public.

It is essential that the Shire Hall is fully used to sustain the running costs.

E Dean

(Rockfield)