THE ongoing closure of Chepstow high street has been met with mixed responses.

The high street has been closed to traffic at both the town gate, colloquially known as the Arch, and at the bottom of the high street near Beaufort Square, since March 2020.

At present, the road is off limits to all but a small number of motorists.

Chepstow Town Council was summoned for an extraordinary meeting last week.

Members discussed the extension of the high street road closure with officers and cabinet members from Monmouthshire County Council (MCC).

A MCC spokesperson said: "The meeting with the town council was very productive.

Owner of Chepstow Books & Gifts Matthew Taylor is supportive of the ongoing pedestrianisation of the high street.

"I feel the key is to make the centre of Chepstow as attractive to locals and tourists as possible," he said.

"A traffic-free area for the High Street and St Mary Street means that there is less pollution and a safer environment for visitors to spend time browsing the shops, market stalls, walking to the river or the castle and sitting in the many cafes, restaurants and bars.

"I know opinions are strong but I’m very pro a pedestrian-first centre of town from a business and a health point of view.

"There were a lot of factors over the last year at play, including more people holidaying in the UK and shopping locally but the pedestrianisation of town certainly helped our sales after a very challenging 2020.

"I’d like more done and an improvement to the seated areas and planting going forward."

Local resident Nigel Trow was of a different mindset.

He believes the closure of the high street is a "serious failure".

"It is killing the town," he said. "When we came here it was a bustling place.

"The high street had a fishmonger, a good greengrocer, a thriving department store, good pubs and all the necessities of community living.

"We enjoyed the quality of this beautiful, now neglected town and we lament the effective closure of its heart.

"Open it up again; bring back the traffic, sweep the streets and clean up the gents in the Welsh Street car park."

Another resident, Peter Freeman, said the issue was "very complex".

"The high street closure has accomplished nothing in regards increased footfall for the businesses.

"This is a problem needing a multi directional approach to solving, both the A 48 bottleneck and the easing of High street shopping."

He said one potential solution was the oft-discussed Chepstow bypass.

"But since it has taken from 1978 to now without the will to resolve Chepstow's joint traffic/pollution danger, one is afraid that many generations in the future will still be arguing the point," he said.