PEOPLE living near Chepstow Racecourse are furious that bands are being booked and tickets are being prepared for sale before a major pop concert has won council approval.
And one resident, Mrs Patricia Fleming, who lives in St Kingsmark Avenue, says the actions strike her as very strange and she would like to see a public inquiry on the matter.
Despite the fact that Monmouthshire's licensing committee is not meeting until December 6 to look at the application the racecourse is already forecasting that either the Manic Street Preachers or other headline bands will definitely appear.
They have scheduled their concert for the weekend of July 21 and are expecting crowds of 60,000-plus.
"The Town Council and the trade organisations all seem to have buried their heads in the sand over this," said Mrs Fleming.
"The democratic rights of local people to object have been swept to one side.
"Mr Richard Perry, commercial manager of the Chepstow Racecourse Company, says that the audience will be confined by a high fence around the perimeter of the Piercefield Estate and guarded by 'minders' to stop concertgoers getting out.
"But at Glastonbury and other rock concert sites those attending have arrived before the event and lingered afterwards, causing mayhem in the surrounding area."
She and other residents would now like to see a public inquiry, fearing that the area will be swamped by concertgoers and the traffic will be a nightmare. Police had turned down an application this year for an airshow at the racecourse on grounds that the traffic would be unmanageable, and this was for fewer people.
Costs, too, were likely to fall on the shoulders of local council-tax payers.
But it was worrying that there was already talk of selling tickets.
"Does this mean it is a foregone conclusion?" she asks.