£30,000 is to be re-allocated for the “final piece of the jigsaw” in Caldicot.

The funding will allow Caldicot’s linkage scheme, which was approved by a Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) planning committee last May, to become a reality after the initial budget for the work was too low. The scheme involves the improvement of the Waitrose car park, service road and footways which join the Asda development to the town centre.

Caldicot’s linkage scheme was awarded £200,000 Section 106 funding from the building of the new Asda store. Since then, other improvement works in the town centre have taken place with Sectional 106 funding, leaving the linkage scheme identified as the “final piece” of the puzzle.

According to a report by an officer at MCC, the re-allocation of the funding will enable the implementation of the scheme which will help to support local businesses and minimise conflict of vehicular movements and pedestrians.

The linkage scheme is designed to improve the attractiveness of the town centre for local users to encourage increased footfall and improved trading for businesses. It would also improve the long term viability of Caldicot town centre, by encouraging the community to shop locally.

According to a report by an officer at MCC, all of the original tenders to complete to the work were in excess of the available budget, and despite reducing costs the budget allocation is still insufficient. This has meant that £30,000 of the Newport Road Improvements S106 allocation has been allocated to this budget to enable the scheme to proceed.

Peter Fox, leader of MCC said: “As a local member of an adjoining village I can’t wait.

“We need to reap the benefits of that Asda store and the footfall it brings and help it regenerate our town.

“We all want to see it happen and we want to see it happen at pace.”

David Evans, mayor of Caldicot added: “I think it has been said this has been a long time coming.

“This has been promised for two-and-a-half or three years and are no further than we were then.

“It is the final piece in the jigsaw.”

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Aaron Reeks, director of the Caldicot Town Team said: “The Town Team was disappointed that conversations between parties broke down initially, but we are very pleased that we have been able to resolve issues and create a way for moving forward. We are delighted that work will commence once the paperwork is finalised.”