WITH planning permission having being obtained for three new cattle market sites in Monmouthshire, the local authority has finally chosen one as their preferred option.

Monmouthshire County Council announced that High House Farm in Bryngwyn is to be their preferred option to replace both Monmouth and Abergavenny's livestock markets.

The location was chosen over the other sites at Little Castle farm in Raglan and an old builder's yard at Llanfoist.

The announcement was made last week following the decision by the Welsh Assembly Government not to call-in the controversial plans for a new £4 million scheme at Bryngwyn.

The review had been requested by The Bryngwyn Rural Community Action Group and politicians opposed to the scheme.

The council's planning chief George Ashworth said: "We shall now be issuing a decision notice for the scheme to go ahead at High House Farm.

"However, because the development is dependant on the funding provided by the sale of the current Abergavenny cattle market site, it is unlikely that any development will start for 18 months.

"Bryngwyn was finally chosen as the preferred scheme because the Raglan option would have to overcome a big hurdle in gaining land drainage consent from the Environmental Agency while the owners of the Llanfoist scheme, Johnsey Estates, have no interest in developing the site that they have planning permission for."

Spokesman for the Bryngwyn Community Action Group, Stuart Willcock said: "We are taking legal advice from barristers about certain aspects of the plan, including the way the detailed content of the application was presented and the way in which the decision was reached against local and national planning policy.

When we have a legal opinion we will be able to decide the way forward."

The new livestock market has approval to operate for six days a week for up to thirteen hours a day.

Mr Ashworth concluded: "While no formal development of the site is likely to take place for more than a year, it is expected that landscaping of the area will be undertaken as soon as possible to allow planting of natural screening to become established."