City to make major changes to refuse collections and recycling
Mar 18 – Newport City Council has announced that it plans to introduce changes to the way it collects household waste.
Household rubbish bins and garden waste bins will be collected once every three weeks. Currently these are collected once every two weeks.
The change has been brought in to help the council meet its recycling targets. Currently the council is recycling around 67 per cent of waste it collects. To meet Welsh government targets, this needs to increase to 70 per cent by 2024/25.
Small changes will be made to recycling containers which will help residents to recycle more of their waste, including:
- New blue bags for cardboard and paper. This will be bigger than the current blue box, which the bag will replace, giving residents more recycling capacity.
- Glass and electricals will be collected in the green box.
- Residents will be asked to bag textiles separately.
- Residents will also be able to order more recycling containers if needed.
These changes will be introduced before the move to three-weekly collections.
Analysis of waste collected in Newport shows that almost 40 per cent of what is currently going into household rubbish bins can be recycled at the kerbside.
A first phase of the new collection cycle will take place in the spring. This is designed to give us the best information possible about how the new arrangements work, ahead of the full rollout in the autumn.
The first phase will take place in around 12,100 households. A mix of streets and a mix of households has been selected from across the city.
Residents whose streets have been selected for the first phase will be notified directly as to when the changes will take place, and what to expect.
City Centre fire – resident in hospital
Mar 17 – A resident was taken to hospital following a fire in a flat above a city centre restaurant. The fire occurred in the flat above the Mama T Restaurant.
The Welsh Ambulance Service (WAS) confirmed that one person was taken to the Grange Hospital following the fire in Newport this morning.
A spokesperson for the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “At approximately 7.02am on Thursday, March 16, we received reports of a fire on Commercial Street in Newport.
“Multiple crews from fire stations across South Wales attended the scene alongside emergency service colleagues.
“Crews utilised specialist equipment, including breathing apparatus, hose reel jets and an aerial ladder platform, to extinguish the fire.
“Crews also assessed adjacent properties for fire spread. Fortunately, none was visible.
A48 tragedy leaves questions unanswered regarding police response
Mar 11 – Questions remain unanswered regarding the police response to A48 tragedy. As details became clear through this week police confirmed that the VW Tiguan involved in the incident had remained undiscovered for nearly 48 hours. Both police forces involved – Gwent and South Wales Police – have referred themselves to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
Both forces confirmed on Tuesday that collision occurred during the early hours of Saturday – the exact time will be confirmed by the IOPC investigation.
They said a first missing person report was made to Gwent Police at 19:34 GMT on Saturday, with further missing person reports made at 19:43 GMT and 21:32 GMT on Saturday.
A further missing person report was made to South Wales Police at 17:37 GMT on Sunday.
The police helicopter was requested at 23:50 GMT on Sunday to search an area of eastern Cardiff, after which the vehicle was found, they said.
Snowfall causes minor disruption
Mar 8 – Aside from some schools most areas of Newport experienced minor disruption today despite a thick blanket of snow in many areas. Most Council services and public transport were unaffected as roads in the City were largely clear. Neighbouring Caerphilly and Torfaen faced much more disruption, including school closures, with the latter unable to provide refuse collection and recycling services due to snow covered surfaces. Newport bus services were unaffected by the weather The X24 Stagecoach bus service between Newport and Blaenavon was disrupted with services unable to reach Blaenavon terminating in Curwood.
In Newport six schools closed – Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed, The John Frost School, Bassaleg School, Newport High, Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd, Mount Pleasant Primary School. Malpas Court closed from 2pm.
The snow led to the postponement of the re-arranged rugby game between Newport and Carmarthen at Newport Stadium.
The snowfall was the first to affect Newport this winter and was the result of an Atlantic low pressure colliding with colder air from the north.
Mar 6 – Three young people have been found dead and two critically injured following what is believed by police to be a car crash in St. Mellons.
They were reported as missing until a member of the public discovered their VW Tiguan car off the side of the A48 between Newport and Cardiff in the early hours of this morning.
Sophie Russon, 20, Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, Rafel Jeanne, 24, and Shane Loughlin, 32, were last seen at about 02:00 GMT on Saturday in Llanedeyrn in Cardiff.
The women, all from Newport, had gone to The Muffler club in the Maesglas area of the city late on Friday.
They then travelled 36 miles to Trecco Bay, a caravan park in the seaside resort of Porthcawl with the two men, both from Cardiff.
Writing on Twitter, Hollie Smith said her cousin, Ms Russon, had been taken to hospital in a critical condition.
update- police confirm Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21 and Rafel Jeanne, 24, died in the accident.
First steps in transport improvements for City
Feb 25 – The first tentative steps in the improvement in transport for Newport city centre were made by Transport for Wales yesterday. They unveiled proposals for the Old Green Roundabout subject to a six week consultation period. The proposals will see the removal of the roundabout, new lights, bus, bike and pedestrian priority. Click on the top image on the left to see the video of the proposal.
Geoff Ogden, chief transport planning and development officer at Transport for Wales, said: “The proposals outlined in the consultation have the potential to significantly improve travel in Newport by providing better links between rail and bus and better routes for walking, wheeling and cycling.
This was a recommendation in the Burns Report instigated by Welsh Government following the scrapping of the M4 relief road. It also includes new railway stations at Llanwern, Newport East, West and St. Mellons, a 50 mph M4 speed limit and a Newport bike hire scheme with funding of £800 million.
the consultation is here
https://haveyoursay.tfw.wales/newport-central-travel-improvements
New Council facility set to re-open
Feb 24 – Newport City Council’s new city centre based customer service offering is set to open alongside museum and library facilities in John Frost Square. The facility originally closed in July 2022 to allow for reconfiguration of the building.
The normal opening times for the building are as follows:
- Central Library: Tuesday-Friday, 9am-5.30pm. Saturday 9am-4pm
- Museum, Art Gallery and Local Studies: Tuesday to Friday, 9.30am-5pm. Saturday 9.30am-4pm
- Customer Services: Monday 10am-4pm; Wednesday 12pm-6pm; Friday 8am-2pm.
- Housing: Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm and 2pm-5pm
- Appointeeships: Monday and Friday 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm
Violent burglars receive long sentences
Feb 20 – Two burglars who threatened a 78 year old man during a break in at his home in a rural area of Newport have received long prison sentences. Career criminals Wayne Wren, 42, and Michael Anthony, 45, forced their way into David Westcott’s cottage while he was asleep.
The pair held Mr Westcott at knifepoint at his home near Newport demanding the PIN of his bank cards.
When Mr Westcott refused, Wren and Anthony said they would cut his fingers off one by one.
Prosecutor Abigail Jackson said: “They tied Mr Westcott’s wrists together and threatened to cut off his fingers before he gave them the PIN numbers to his debit and credit cards.”
Judge Shoman Khan told them: “You have committed a truly terrible crime. It’s like something you read about in a book or see on TV.
“You invaded a 78-year-old vulnerable man’s home and subjected him to a horrifying ordeal. The victim could barely comprehend this was happening to him. It was shameful, shameful behaviour.”
As well as a 12-year custodial sentence, the pair were given an extended term on licence of four years once they are released.
Council ignores cost of living pressures to put Council Tax up by 8.5 per cent
Feb 16 – Newport City Council’s Cabinet has opted to increase Council Tax for residents by 8.5 per cent in a stunning move that pays scant attention to the cost of living pressures being faced by most City households.
The increase was branded ‘outrageous’ by Opposition Leader Matthew Evans. If the police element increases by a similar amount it will mean an increase in average Council Tax on a Band C of £119 per annum or £2.28 per week. For a Band F the increase is £193 per annum or £3.71 per week. The inflation rate is currently 10.1 per cent and energy prices have more than doubled in the past eighteen months.
Jane Mudd, Leader of the council, said: “We have promised to be a listening council and I was pleased with the level of response this year. It has been one of the most challenging budgets we’ve had to set in recent years, and it was vitally important that everyone had their opportunity to contribute.”
900 Duffryn residents without heat and power for three days
Feb 14 – Nine hundred homes in Duffryn will be without heat or hot water for three days from midnight tonight. In one of the coldest months of the winter Newport City Homes and Welsh Water are undertaking essential repairs to the biomass facility that provides heating to the main housing estate in the area. Tenants will receive reimbursement of £20 per day for reasonable expenses due to the loss of heating and hot water. The social landlord is also providing portable heaters and blankets.
Budget position boosted but will Council take account of cost of living crisis?
Feb 14 – A better than expected out-turn for schools means that the Council’s budget has been boosted by an underspend in Education of £8.475 million. This will assist in their deliberations tomorrow ahead of a momentous decision on Council Tax, given the crippling impact of the cost of living crisis on city households. Disappointingly. The Budget Report considers modelled assumptions on Council Tax increases starting at 6 per cent! There is hardly any mention of the Council’s huge reserve other than reference to just over £2 million ear-marked to offset some of the budget pressures.
Deterioration in bus services exposed
Feb 14 – A 1992 bus timetable for sale on E-Bay has highlighted the huge changes and deterioration in Newport Bus timetabling.
The timetable for the Gaer bus service in 1992 details Newport bound services as follows – Monday to Friday 83 bus services starting at 0512 with a last service of 2307. The Saturday service comprised 73 services with the same start and end times. The Sunday service amounted to 24 bus services with a start time of 0647 and last service of 2237.
Today’s Gaer services is as follows – Monday to Friday 12 services with the first bus at 0650 and last service at 1750. 11 services on a Saturday starting at 0740 ending at 1750. 6 services on a Sunday starting at 0945 and ending at 1745.
Irrespective of the pandemic and working from home this is a huge reduction in service levels and clearly has had a detrimental impact on the city and its centre.
The recent review of services by Newport Bus claimed it was returning Sunday services to the City. However, key arterial routes still have no Sunday service including the length of Chepstow Road from the Coldra to Aberthaw Road.
The promised improvements in public transportation in the Newport area following the decision to shelve the M4 relief road and instead follow the recommendations of the Burns Report have not materialised.
Council budget position improves before critical Council Tax decision
Feb 7 – The Council’s budget position has improved significantly as a result of the Welsh Government’s Revenue Support Grant settlement in early December and savings from the education service. The position has exposed their budget consultation as mis-timed as the savings and proposals in that process were based upon the figures prior to this. At the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the Council on February 3, Meirion Rushworth, the Head of Finance stated the funding gap of £16 million had now been reduced by £11.7 million by the Revenue Support Grant increase and there were further ‘school savings’ that he was unable to quantify. The Council’s Cabinet meets next week (on February 15) to agree a Council Tax increase for approval by the Council. As a result of the improvement the Council should be able to set a much lower level of Council Tax increase than the figure proposed in the budget consultation, 9.5 per cent. It currently has in excess of £130 million in its reserve and residents are struggling to deal with the cost of living crisis. Neighbouring Torfaen has agreed a 1.5 per cent increase.
The consultation process has now closed. The Committee was advised that it has attracted one of the largest responses of recent times. It is unfortunate it was based on a false premise and has attracted widespread negative publicity for the Council with more reports this week regarding the plan to turn off more street lights with consequent impact on the safety of residents.
Disturbance after football clash
Feb 6 – A huge police operation in Newport on Saturday contained most issues in the city centre resulting from the arrival of a thousand-plus Swindon fans. The fans were corralled near the Windsor Castle pub from 10am on the morning of the game. They could be heard ‘singing’ by shoppers as they waited, drinking at the Windsor Castle, for the 12.45 kick off. Elsewhere rugby supporters were on their way to Cardiff for the international match with Ireland.
corralledAfter the game which ended in a 2-1 victory for the Exiles there were reports of a disturbance near Bar Amber on High Street. Chairs and tables were thrown by rival supporters before police contained the incident. On the day there were five arrests for affray and public order offences. A police spokesperson told Wales Online that there was a disturbance but this was managed, no injuries or damage was reported and one person was arrested.
Schools set to close due to strike
Jan 30 – Most Newport schools will close on Wednesday as a result of the national teachers strike. The strike is taking place following the rejection of the employers 5 per cent pay offer by members of the National Education Union.
The main comprehensive schools are all closed. Schools currently open fully are Langstone, Malpas Court, Pillgwenlly, Mount Pleasant, St David’s RC, and Ysgol Gymraeg Ifor Hael. Some schools are yet to confirm their intentions.
Poll confirms regret at Brexit decision
Jan 30 – A new UK wide opinion poll has confirmed the public’s sense of regret at the referendum decision to leave the European Union in 2016. Opinion has moved dramatically in favour of closer ties with the EU with most polls indicating the public given the opportunity again would rejoin. The opinion poll by focal data indicates that 55 per cent agree it was wrong to leave with 28 per cent still in favour and 17 per cent not offering an opinion either way. In Newport East the figures were 51 per cent stating it was wrong with 30 per cent still in favour, in Newport West the figures were 54 per cent to 28. Only three parliamentary constituencies out of. 632 polled are still in favour of Brexit.
Openings boost for Friar’s Walk
Jan 27 – The Friar’s Walk shopping centre enjoys a much needed boost with two openings in the next month. Despite truly dreadful economic conditions two businesses are moving to the centre.
In the restaurant area Australian chain Karen’s Diner will open in the former Franky and Benny’s unit next to TGI Friday. They specialise in great burgers and rude service. In the shopping area discount retailer Poundland have taken over two units previously occupied by Mothercare and New Look for Men. The new store will be substantial including clothing brand Pep & Co with a total staff complement of 36. It will lead to the closure of the other stores in Kingsway and Commercial Street.
Man arrested after death of motorcyclist
Jan 26 – A motorist has been arrested after a 23 year old motorcyclist was killed in a crash in Bettws. A silver Vauxhall Vectra was involved in the crash with a motorbike on Monnow Way in Bettws, Newport, at around 15:40 GMT on Wednesday.
Police said the rider, a 23-year-old man from Newport, died at the scene. The 60-year-old driver of the car, also from Newport, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and remains in police custody, said Gwent Police.
MURDER ARREST
A 50-year old man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the death of a well-known drag performer. Darren Moore was found dead in Windsor Place in Cardiff city centre at about 19:35 GMT on Sunday.The 39-year-old from Newport performed as CC Quinn and previously as Crystal Coutoure.
Royal Gwent evacuated due to fire emergency
Jan 25 – The Royal Gwent hospital was evacuated for over two hours this morning due to a fire emergency. The Health Board stated. The South Wales Fire and Rescue Service have now left the Royal Gwent Hospital site and the building has been made secure. Anyone with an appointment in the Main Outpaitients Department from 11am onwards today can attend their appointment as these will be running as planned. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for everyone’s co-operation and to our staff and the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service for their quick response.”
It is thought the issue was caused by smoke from a motor
The Newport Ship returns home
Jan 19 – The final preserved timbers of the Newport Ship have returned to the City following restoration work by the Mary Rose Project in Portsmouth. There are now 2,500 pieces of timber that need to be assembled. Curator Toby Jones told the BBC “We have a massive, flat-pack ship that we need to reassemble and there are no instructions.” They hope to have reconstructed the 15th century ship by 2028. The City Council will undertake a feasibility study to establish the best location for the Ship. The former Debenhams’ department store has emerged as the early favourite.
The Ship was discovered in 2002 during the excavation work as part of the Riverfront Theatre development. It is thought to date from 1468 and was believed to be being repaired in Newport before resuming its trading role between Bristol and the Iberian Peninsula. It’s mooring broke and the Ship broke apart with a third of its remains covered by the mud and silt of the River Usk.
The Ship will be the only 15th century vessel on show anywhere in the world. Broadcaster Dan Snow said “The Mary Rose was a Tudor vessel, it feels like an early modern vessel, while the Newport Ship is a trading ship operating at the beginning of a revolution in European shipbuilding.
“It was at a time when those living along the Atlantic seaboard; the Welsh, people from Brittany, northern Spain, Portugal, Devon and Cornwall were starting to go to sea in bigger and stronger ships that would allow them to eventually cross the Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean.…This is something that’s going to be of global significance and interest. Tourists will be coming from all over the world.”
Tories slammed for overlooking City bid
Jan 19 – The UK Government’s controversial Levelling Up Fund was slammed today for overlooking Newport’s bid for support alongside those of many major cities in the country.
There was no official response from the City Council but Newport Labour Party issued a stinging response. They expressed ‘huge disappointment’ at the decision. They stated that the City Council has implemented savings of £90 million over the last 12 years. They went on to say ‘Newport’s bid equated to a small proportion of this…supporting the creation of a National Technology Institute….bringing more training and skills opportunities to our young people.’
A quarter of Newport’s wards are in the poorest 10 per cent of all Welsh neighbourhoods.
The scheme was criticised widely today including by the Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street who said it was an example of why Whitehall’s ‘bidding and begging bowl culture is broken’ as he called for proper fiscal devolution.
Local government funding has been cut by £41 billion in the last 12 years, levelling up funding returns £2.1 billion to local authorities. There was no levelling up funding for Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Leicester or Liverpool. However, Rishi Sunak’s constituency received £19 million.
Chris Bryant, Rhondda MP stated “The operation of the levelling up fund is completely corrupt because it’s not based on need. … It’s rigged deliberately against the poorest communities in the land”
Welsh Economic Minister Vaughan Gething stated ‘Wales remains £1.1bn worse off on promised EU replacement funds, with less say over less money, and every Levelling Up funding decision has been taken in Whitehall. In Wales £50 million was granted to Cardiff for a train line covering the Bay to Cardiff Central, this is a miniscule project when compared to the transport / infrastructure needs of the Newport area. In addition, Torfaen was granted £7.6 million for a regeneration project in Pontypool town centre.
Newport legend, David Hando, dies aged 84
Jan 17 – Newport County AFC has announced the death of their Club Chairman, David Hando, aged 84.
The club stated on their website “Everyone involved with Newport County AFC is saddened to learn of the death of club president David Hando BEM following a period of illness at the age of 84. As all Exiles supporters will know, David was one of the key figures in the reform of the club in 1989 as Newport AFC. He was chairman of the reformed club for the first nine years of its existence and was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2015, the same year he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to football and the wider Newport community.”
Do UWE Bristol students outnumber USW graduates at City student village?
Jan 15 – It seems likely Newport is providing more student accommodation for Bristol students than it’s home university of University of South Wales (USW).The University of West of England (UWE) website states there are 220 rooms at the 400 bed privately run Newport Student Village available at a cost of between £5000 and £6000 for the academic year.
According to the BBC there are currently 127 UWE students living at the accommodation in Newport. Many of them only discovered they would have to live on the other side of the Bristol Channel once they accepted their places at UWE.
As part of a travel support package offered to students living in the Newport accommodation since 2019 UWE has agreed to cover the cost of a three year 16-25 railcard and to pay for taxi fares to and from the accommodation and the railway station in Newport. Students will need to contact the university for a reimbursement on their railcard. Students will not be charged for taxi journeys to and from the station, provided they are booked in advance (the night before) via Dragon Taxis.
Due to the increase in demand for on-campus living, UWE Bristol is building more accommodation on Frenchay Campus for an additional 2,250 students, with the first 900 rooms available from September 2023.
In 2012 there were 9,250 students at the two campuses of the former University of Wales Newport. Following the enforced merger with University of Glamorgan the status of the Newport sites has diminished with the loss of arts and humanities courses. Despite assurances to the contrary the Caerleon Campus was closed by USW with some of the funding from the sale pledged to improve the city centre offer as part of a new Knowledge Quarter linked to Coleg Gwent. This is yet to come to fruition but is proposed for a site adjacent to Kingsway. Details of students studying at the Newport City campus are not available although it is thought they add little to the city centre economy when compared to 2012. A University of South Wales spokesperson recently stated: “Just over 88 per cent of students who study at Newport Campus live at home and commute to USW to undertake their education.”
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Footpath collapses into river at Rogerstone
Jan 13 – A public footpath has collapsed in Rogerstone after days of heavy rain. Newport City Council stated the footpath between Jubilee Park and Rogerstone Welfare Ground had collapsed into the River Ebbw. The path is closed until further notice and must not be used under any circumstances. The City Council also stated ‘Barriers and closure signs are in place along both ends of the path. The conditions along the path are dangerous and represent a risk to life, and we urge residents to use alternative routes.’
There is no immediate respite to the very unsettled conditions. A yellow weather warning is forecast for an area spanning from Swansea in the west to Newport in the east and to Exeter in the south west of England from 10pm tonight until 12 noon tomorrow. The warning is of heavy rain likely to lead some to flooding and potential disruption to homes, businesses, transport and power supplies. The weather is expected to improve next week although temperatures will be much lower.
Elsewhere in Newport yesterday there were a number of businesses including a public house in the Caerleon area affected by ground water and disruption to bus services between Newport and Chepstow and train services to London Paddington due to flooding between Swindon and Bristol Parkway. Update January 14 – The Council stated “ Overnight rainfall has caused issues with surface water and flooding. The main areas currently affected are Malpas Road southbound, near the fire station junction; the Harlequin roundabout; and Upper Dock Street in the city centre. Restrictions are in place, please avoid.”
Major blow as Liberty Steel announces ‘restructuring’
Jan 13 – Liberty Steel has put all 121 jobs at its Newport plant at risk as part of its plan to restructure its business. The company announced plants in Newport, West Bromwich and Tredegar will be made idle as part of the need to ‘refocus’ the business. Liberty stated it would restart production when the market and operating conditions allow. Jessica Morden MP described the news as ‘devastating’ and pledged to raise the matter with the UK Government.
The company stated it hoped to avoid redundancy for the workers involved by offering alternative employment.
Newport Council continues consultation on large Council Tax rise
Jan 10 – Despite a better than expected financial settlement from Welsh Government Newport City Council is continuing with its public consultation on controversial budget proposals for 2023/24 including reductions in the social care workforce and the closure of scaling down of some services most notably refuse collections. The premise of the consultation was also a potential 9.5 per cent increase in Council Tax levels in the City. The consultation has raised considerable anxiety about the long term future of some service provision particularly customer facing services and those aimed at vulnerable residents. The proposed budget cuts are a “devastating blow” to some of the city’s most vulnerable people, Newport’s Green Party councillor Lauren James has stated.
On December 14 2022 the Welsh Government provisionally announced an 8.7 per cent increase in funding to Newport amounting to funding of £289 million. At the time Andrew Morgan of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) said: “The economic outlook remains bleak which means that councils will still have to take difficult decisions to meet spiralling budget gaps due to energy bills, inflation and pay costs.” The funding was only half of the sum required, he said, but better than expected.
Neighbouring Torfaen (receiving a 7.9 per cent increase) has committed itself to a Council Tax increase of only 1.95 per cent and claims it can now balance its books following earlier reports of a £12.5 million ‘black hole’. Newport will no doubt offer a similar analysis having raised undue alarms during the consultation process. The focus will then turn to the level of Council Tax increase in the City, this provides under 20 per cent of its total funding, but given the impact on residents due to the cost of living crisis any substantial increase will have a detrimental effect on the incomes of households struggling with inflation, energy and housing pressures. In 2021/22 the Council announced a 3.7 per cent increase having consulted on a figure of 5 per cent. In 2020/21 the increase was 6.95 per cent (the consultation figure 7.95 per cent). Although Newport has historically some of the lowest council tax levels in Wales this is often used as the justification for significant increases in the tax. It should be a situation it is proud of and wishes to maintain.
Some of the pressures facing local authorities like Newport are one-off issues like the hike in energy costs which begs the question – why not utilise some of the Council’s reserves?In July 2022 a South Wales Argus article revealed that the Council had amassed financial reserves of in excess of £130 million and that budgets had been underspent in 2021-22 by £18.4 million. A further £7.2 million was to be allocated to the reserve although the Council did announce new expenditure on parks, in social care and on temporary buildings for St. Andrews School. At the time Opposition Leader Matthew Evans expressed surprise at the lack of spending announcements. The 2022/23 budget consultation proposals amount to potential cuts of £3.75 million.