MONMOUTH County Council's plan for a new flagship Welcome Centre for visitors looks to set to move full steam ahead.

The cabinet has agreed to meet a shortfall of £16,852 to ensure the project goes ahead in a bid to improve tourism ahead of the Ryder Cup coming to Newport in 2010, and to bring in an extra £500,000 a year.

Cllr Bob Greenland explained at last week's cabinet meeting that the cost of building the centre was being met almost entirely by the Assembly's Rural Development Plan grant, and this would be lost to the council if the centre did not go ahead.

A final decision on the grants from RDP will be made next month by the Assembly.

The scheme is supported by the town council, chamber of trade and commerce and Monmouth Partnership Forum.

The project will be phased with the Welcome Centre, civic square and riverside access being built first at a cost of £3 million, with improvements to the car park in phase 2 costing just under £1 million.

Rick Longford, economic development manager said 20per cent of match funding from Monmouthshire was expected to complement the Assembly grant and the council had to guarantee the money was there before the funding would be released.

He explained that the new bridge over the River Monnow had changed the visitor entrance into Monmouth, but first impressions are of a sea of tarmac" and the side of the Waitrose supermarket.

He added: "The Welcome Centre project has been developed to provide an exemplary visitor facility and arrival point to the town, providing the visitor with information to enjoy the town and wider region, increasing tourism revenue by an estimated half a million pounds a year. It is particularly important to have such facilities in place by the time the Ryder Cup comes to Newport in 2010."