THE barrister acting for the three Monmouthshire towns seeking a judicial review over car parking charges believes they have a good case.

Abergavenny, Usk and Chepstow town councils, backed by all five chambers of trade, are challenging the decision by Monmouthshire County Council's cabinet to end free car parking in all five major towns, and filing papers with the High Court today asking for a judicial review.

They do not expect a decision from a High Court judge about whether they have a case for a judicial review until mid-January.

Last Thursday a deputation, including Usk's mayor Cllr Liz Fleming, met the barrister they have appointed. She said: "We were heartened by what the barrister had to say about our case."

She revealed that Monmouthshire County Council has sent a reply to their letter of intent, stating they believe they have a strong case, and claiming they consulted everyone.

She said: "We are comparing it with the consultation in 1996 prior to any notices going up in the car parks, then there was a lot of consultation.

"This time we heard from the newspapers and we believed naively that we would be consulted before the proposal but that never happened.

"The county council says car parking charges are being introduced in free car parks for traffic management problems, yet no survey has been done in Usk. If there had been traffic management problems here we would have worked with MCC to resolve them. We maintain that the income from the car parking proposals had always been included in the budget."

She said Usk had held a very successful Victorian Day on Saturday which attracted hundreds of visitors. She added: "I do believe we wouldn't have had such a successful day if visitors had to pay for car parking."

Both Usk and Caldicot councillors say bringing in charges in their towns will kill off many businesses. When car parking charges were first introduced both towns were left out of the equation, and Abergavenny, Chepstow and Monmouth had at least one car park free of charge.