A record-breaking poll on the Abergavenny Chronicle website has shown overwhelming opposition to plans to bring McDonald's to Llanfoist.

As the Chronicle went to press, more than 8,000 people had voted on whether McDonald's should be given the go-ahead to open a drive through restaurant at Llanfoist, with 77 per cent voting against it.

And last week, this opposition was widely expressed at an open meeting organised to allow residents the chance to voice their opinions on proposed McDonald's development.

At Llanfoist Village Hall people were able to view the plans of the new development, air their views and sign a petition.

Hundreds of residents flocked to the event and the Mayor of Abergavenny and Councillor for Llanfoist, Martin Hickman, commented on the turn out and the passion shown by local people in their comments.

"This event has had a very good turn out. When I arrived I could barely get through the door," he said. "There must have been hundreds of people here tonight, and it really says something to see local people putting their voice to something like this."

Many of those who attended had negative views on the development with a key issue the suitability of the site.

Sarah Kirkpatrick, Community Councillor for Llanfoist said, "Clearly from this event you can see there are a lot of people opposed to this development.

"We are not NIMBYs, as we know this land has to be developed, we just want something more complementary to this site. The site is called Llanfoist Farm, so surely we need something that can suit the ethos of the area, and can help the local businesses."

She said that she supported the search for alternative developments, such as the Westmorland services in Gloucestershire which are tailor-made to suit the surroundings of each specific rural area.

Many residents felt the proposed access routes were unsuitable and were concerned that people would need to drive to the site.

Patrick Hannay, who has been vocal in the campaign against the development, said he felt the site was dangerous for pedestrians, particularly with its proximity to the school.

"Young people will be running off to go to this site, and the pedestrian routes are just not safe enough for this," he said. "This just hasn't been well thought out and could be very dangerous for a lot of young people."

In an online comment on the application, Biodiversity and Ecology Officer for MCC, Kate Stinchcome has also raised concerns about the lack of ecological information provided and has argued that, because of this, the application cannot be valid and requires an extended Phase 1 assessment.

Many people are taking with a pinch of salt the developers' assurances that the new outlet will bring employment opportunities to the area.

In one online objection, Jeremy Gass said, "Whilst some jobs will be created they will be low paid and there is no guarantee that there will be a net gain in jobs as the development could result in job losses within the town."

And it is not just local people who are opposing this development. Leighton and Donna Winter from Ebbw Vale also attended the event and spoke out against the development believing it would ruin the local area.

"We visit the area regularly and we don't want to see this happen to a town like this," said Leighton. "Monmouthshire has done so well over the years keeping McDonald's out of this area and we all need to stand up to this to ensure it doesn't happen now.

"We need young people to get involved in this fight against McDonald's, and we need them to see the repercussions of allowing this move to go ahead.

"Most people will believe that the young people would welcome this addition, so we need them to see just how much of a detrimental effect this will have on the local area."

Now a group is setting up a digital campaign, to spread awareness of the application details, so as many people can have their say on the development as possible.

Talia Stokes, who works in marketing said, " People are already getting quite vocal about this application, and we want to use an online approach to reach as many people as we can, especially young people - showing them visualisations which are missing from the application, such as the impact on the local surroundings.

"I know I don't want this development to come, and we have had a lot of feedback from people thinking in a similar way, so now it's a case of getting everyone, whatever their views, to have their say to the planning department."

Llanfoist Community Council is set to take its findings from the public to Monmouthshire County Council, but if you have not yet had a chance to have your say, you can upload your views onto the MCC Planning Portal, with the application number DC/2014/01000.