Another four shops quit Newport city centre (From South Wales Argus)

These are serious times for the High Streets all over the UK, but Newport seems to be taking a big hit. How come, on these pages not so long ago, we were told that Newport had the highest increase in footfall in the UK? This has not happened overnight and years of mis-management and atrocious bad planning have led to this. Newport City Councils.... hang your heads in shame.

Also the Toy Store that recently closed because it was moving to Cardiff were its business rates were cheaper, how is it possible that the business rates in a Capitol City are cheaper than Newport?

Newport City Centre shopping is not a nice experience - it hasn't been for about 10 years. It needs to compress itself into a smaller, more compact area that is not being dug up every other week.

Retailers cannot beat the internet but they can work with it by offering the 'click and collect' service to attract potential custom instore.

Kingsway Indoor Centre has more stalls and chuggers cluttering up the walkways than there are real shops. When the free car parking stops the number of visitors will again drop.

If it wasn't for the banks, bless them, thousands would not even need to visit the City Centre.

Meanwhile we are all told that it'll be OK when the Friars Walk development is completed, in time for our afterlife, yet The Kingsway has been unable to fill half it's units since it was refurbished.

Is it really worth going to town any more, why has the council allowed this to happen..town is the shopping hub not Spytty or Crindau...Free buses are all well and good except they are not often enough and not fit for purpose..would say Newport has gone to the dogs but even the dogs wont go there anymore

Lets face it,it's been over for a while.

Drastic action needs to be taken here fast. But I am confused by an earlier comment that says it is cheaper rent at the Capitol centre Cardiff. If this is true then its down to NCC to sort it out rapidly before the City has no shops no people nothing. I myself lived and worked in Newport and was brought up in Baneswell and Newport was a thriving town. The Friars walk redevelopment has been in the media for years do they think it will make a big difference when completed?. I went to Newport in Dec 2011 just before Xmas and the shock at the state of the what you to be known as the In-shops and John Frost square. NCC should be ashamed of themselves to let it get to this state and I know the current climate is not helping but neither are you.
People can't spend a day in Newport shopping now not like 10-15 years ago and if I go back 20 years ago or maybe not that far back nightlife, shopping, the market Newport had it all. And I worked in Taxis, Newport Transport and so I seen both sides of the coin day and night-time when Newport was a thriving town.

The town is full of druggies thats why the footfall increased.

The fat lady is well and truly singing....

Bob Bright, NCC Labour Leader stated afterm the May election ( to Argus)

Bob Bright , Labour Leader sNEWPORT council Labour leader Bob Bright gave a statement to the Argus yesterday, five days after his party won control of the council.

Cllr Bright pledged to keep Argus readers informed and said the city was going through a “historic” period of reinvention
tated after the May election"

He's certainly reinvented Newport as a disaster zone!! He and his Cabinet should resign.

If business rates and rent are the main problem, NCC can't be blamed... They'e set by central government.

Newport is a dump, the type of people that hang aroud there in large groups, swearing, spitting, and being anti-social have played a major part in the decline of the town and the retail experience.

Newport has lost it's identity due to mass immigration meaning "Newport" people don't go to Newport anymore, as it's not a nice experience.

The retailers see the same as the shoppers, and in turn have boycotted it.

Unfortunately times are changing and unless shops roll with it they will go out of business. No one is to blame here – it’s evolution.

It is a shame that inner city shopping centres are becoming a thing of the past, but that’s just the way it is - we do however have good out of town shopping centres around Wales.

As a 29 year old living in Newport, I find Spytty a great place to shop. Yes I do have a car, but even if I didn't there are services available to get me.

To help Spytty boom I think it would be a good idea for more busses to run to and from the city centre. Hopefully this would help people without cars shop there more frequently.

I think as soon as the new Queensway development is up and running people will stop moaning and will forget the bad times. It’s a hard world out there at the moment, so what we all need to do is help spur each other on in developing and making Newport a better place to live - this is easy to do. Instead of moaning that there is litter on the floor, just pick it up. We can’t keep living in this blaming society – it doesn’t do anyone any good.

People can’t keep blaming the council for everything. Everyone who lives in Newport is responsible for it – have some pride in where you live. You respect your home, so why not the area you live in???

Finally – if you think Newport is such a bad place to live you have a simple option….leave

It is not the job of the public to subsidise failing businesses. If they cannot trade at a profit, when others clearly can, then they must fail. It seems to be forgotten that out of town shops pay for more land so they can offer parking etc. They do not get a free ride so why do these traders expect one.

On the inside wrote:
It is not the job of the public to subsidise failing businesses. If they cannot trade at a profit, when others clearly can, then they must fail. It seems to be forgotten that out of town shops pay for more land so they can offer parking etc. They do not get a free ride so why do these traders expect one.

Gotta love the free market...

Newportresident - well done - it's refreshing to read something sensible here, rather than the ill-informed badly-spelled council bashing we see here on a regular basis.

VoiceOfDaPort wrote:
Also the Toy Store that recently closed because it was moving to Cardiff were its business rates were cheaper, how is it possible that the business rates in a Capitol City are cheaper than Newport?

i couldnt of said it better myself Port

Newport Council are to blame for the demise not the shops & shopkeepers etc

I wish they would stay but i dont blame businesses for leaving

Some folk don't see to realise that £millions of public money is spent on regeneration - the economy is not the Council's fault but the Council is to blame for not using every tool at its disposal and maximising economic development. Where do you think the money comes from for regeneration schemes?.

Name another City in Newport's state?

Could one empty unit (just one) be dedicated as a "Councillor Herbie Thomas" Memorial Shop. We could have photos of the said councillor and large boards with quotes of his intellect.

It would be a nice feature for the occasional visitors to the centre as they wander around to see a bit of local history that led to this.

Newport = slum

What is need is a better bus service to Spytty. It would not be difficult to extend some of the town service to there during shopping hours. The extened service could operate as a limited stop service between Newport & Spytty

The R1 could also be extended to Spytty to provide a direct service to Spytty from WEst Newport

It is the hopeless planning decisions that have led to this, and they are the councils fault.
They were the ones to take the focus from the High street, make a hopeless botch of the parking and access to it.
Hysterically they tried to blame the last short lived Council who were trying to improve things.
Why are the much lamented economic factors not affecting Cwmbran?
It is a total **** up by the Council, and it is the residents fault for voting such a bunch of clowns back in.

More stores are set to go from Newport. I know of at least another 3

Rather than grand non viable schemes Newport Council need to be realistic

Just keep Kingsway Centre, John Frost Square and perhaps Commercial Strret between Stow Hill & SIde Entrance of Kingsway and the Old Market. THat needs money invested in it though to make it attractive it is a dirty dive at present. It needs proper standards impossed on the stall holders as well

theres only one person to blame why town is empty and all the shops are now out of town that's the COUNCIL'S they granted planning for out of town shops. they charge to much for business rates, they put high price on parking in Newport THE COUNCIL HAVE KILLED THE HIGH STREET WITH THERE GREED best thing they can do now is bulldoze the lot and run a free bus every 10 min to Cwmbran and spytty

VoiceOfDaPort wrote:
Meanwhile we are all told that it'll be OK when the Friars Walk development is completed, in time for our afterlife, yet The Kingsway has been unable to fill half it's units since it was refurbished.

Dont' get mislead by Friars walk, That is not a shopping redevelopment. It is mainly an office block & multistory car park

And can anyone remember the nonsense spouted by the council prior to the last council elections basically promising a big development with Debenhams at its heart? Do they really thing we are that gullible?

As if Debenhams would come anywhere near a town which is in its death throes.

The council has traditionally got the strategy wrong. It has doffed its collective cap to multinationals and out of town retail and has tried to squeeze out local independents who would add variety, character and would battle to stay in business until their last breath, unlike the multinationals who have no loyalty and who pull out at the first hint of a downturn in their businesses.

Well, the council is now reaping what it has sown. It's like a pack of cards. As each retailer leaves, so the attraction of the city centre lessens, which means less footfall. The other retailer will inevitably follow suit.

There is no saving Newport City Centre. We are beyond the point where it can be saved. The future is of a city centre at the heart of Newport which is dead. All those businesses gone, and a tsunami of unemployment for which we
will all have to pick up the bill.

The council should hang its head in shame. It has betrayed the city and the people. Shame on them all.

as always this is a systemic problem that a small portion of society have been fighting back against long before the real effects began to show. We have to face facts here, this is happening almost everywhere and we need to adapt to survive, we need real change to fix the root of these problems. instead of polishing the symptoms, fight the disease! and a trickle down effect will solve a lot of the smaller issues.

Nobody has the right to complain if they do not vote or take active interest in local and national politics or continue to vote for a party out of habit. This is supposed to be a represented democracy, do any of you really feel your government represents you and your rights?

Get money out of politics. End the two party system.

The death of the highstreet is just one more nail in the coffin. Internet giants have been a big cause and they only manage their success over physical shopping by our faulty tax system allowing them to avoid paying what shop owners have too. it has very little to do with convenience in my opinion. I'm young and i still prefer to physically hold and see the thing I'm buying before I do, until technology catches up to allow digital sellers to provide that service to me I will always prefer to go out to a shop...which I tend only to do now to view things I will later buy online because of the enormous price difference.

Bobevans wrote:

VoiceOfDaPort wrote:
Meanwhile we are all told that it'll be OK when the Friars Walk development is completed, in time for our afterlife, yet The Kingsway has been unable to fill half it's units since it was refurbished.

Dont' get mislead by Friars walk, That is not a shopping redevelopment. It is mainly an office block & multistory car park

What? Where the hell have you managed to get this rubbish information from?

"Friars Walk will offer over 390,000 sq ft (36,230 sqm) of retail and leisure space which includes a full offer department store, a multiplex cinema, a wide range of shops and restaurants, all supported by a new modern car park and bus station."

I see no mention of any offices? The Cambrian centre on the other hand yes it does.

Don't worry, house prices in Newport will be up 8% next year. Who needs to work, we can all just live off the new equity we've all acquired.

Perhaps Bain and the League of Shadows should come in and do a job on Newport............

sorry, bane!

Tories will watch the economy shrivel to nothing as long as london is thriving .
Poverty again rises tories in again,civil unrest coming tories are nasty through and through .

It's only going to take one bank to move to spytty and that will be it for the high st.

But I don't see the problem as long as the independent shops then move in (if rates allow) and we can get back to proper shopping, with choice rather than mass produced chinese rubbish.

Boots and Smiths are now the only big stores left.. And Iceland is the only food store!! I will miss M& S

They've killed off the Market first with the Road works, then closing the Car Park now they've shut the front of the Market and everybody thinks its shut losing the Market Traders more trade, good old Bobby Bright and his Labour Councillors.. Even Herbie Thomas says nobody shops in Newport!!

So free Parking goes Feb 1st, Passport Office goes mid Feb, HMV may go if nobody buys them, and River Island and Claire's are also leaving the town centre!!!

And no aggressive response from the Internet Tough Guy Little Danny Broadswordan.. Did he cut his wrists or hurl himself from his pram and become one of the Lost Boys in 'Never Never Land' after reading this?

Lastpost wrote:
Newport City Centre shopping is not a nice experience - it hasn't been for about 10 years. It needs to compress itself into a smaller, more compact area that is not being dug up every other week.

Retailers cannot beat the internet but they can work with it by offering the 'click and collect' service to attract potential custom instore.

Kingsway Indoor Centre has more stalls and chuggers cluttering up the walkways than there are real shops. When the free car parking stops the number of visitors will again drop.

If it wasn't for the banks, bless them, thousands would not even need to visit the City Centre.

Newport city council has long stood by & watched the City go into the depths of a ghost town... They are still trying to reinstate car park charges (what for to listen to big issue sellers & see empty shops ?) & even then only allow you 2 hrs ( have they not learnt from cwmbrans sucess?) then the prices they charge for their rental of premises is rediculous are they waiting for an assembly grant to solve the problems?
come on NBC give Newport the credit & opportunities It deserves for all the people that have lived & worked there all their lives. Give it a chance before the City Status becomes a Joke .

if any of you out there think that Debenhams(even if they come and yes they do have an escape clause) is going to be the saviour of Newps centre then you're all sadly mistaken.This City(??) is way beyond salvation.

OK -what would entice you AT THE MOMENT to shop in Newp-what would you come into town to buy?=zip,nada zilch
clothes?-Cardiff
household?-Cardiff
Oh I know POUNDLAND

Woodgnome wrote:
Some folk don't see to realise that £millions of public money is spent on regeneration - the economy is not the Council's fault but the Council is to blame for not using every tool at its disposal and maximising economic development. Where do you think the money comes from for regeneration schemes?.

Name another City in Newport's state?

http://money.aol.co.
uk/2011/09/08/ghost-
town-league-table-wh
ere-are-the-empty-sh
ops/

The emptiest large shopping centres
1. Stockport
2= Blackpool
2= Grimsby
4. Stockton-on-Tees
5. Bradford

The emptiest medium-sized shopping centres
1. Dudley
2. West Bromwich
3. Hartlepool
4. Dewsbury
5= Blackburn
5= Dartford

The emptiest small shopping centres
1. Leigh Park
2. Margate
3. Wandsworth
4. Runcorn
5= Cheetham
5= North Cheam

Really, its not that to find out.

I don't even go into newport now I would rather pay parking at Cardiff and there is more of a choice of shops I remember that when I use to go into town it would take a good few hours to get round the shops now prob 5sec at a push I don't get where the council is getting all this money to do this and that when if they lowered the rent in town they would get more shops opening rather than shutting and getting more people spending there money and we prob wont mind paying for parking then why the HELL should i pay to park my car for an hour when there are hardly any shops in town

Also this government want us to be a greener then maybe they should put the shops into the town center so we don't have to drive to every retail park under the sun

andy83 wrote:
theres only one person to blame why town is empty and all the shops are now out of town that's the COUNCIL'S they granted planning for out of town shops. they charge to much for business rates, they put high price on parking in Newport THE COUNCIL HAVE KILLED THE HIGH STREET WITH THERE GREED best thing they can do now is bulldoze the lot and run a free bus every 10 min to Cwmbran and spytty

The history of bad planning decisions in Newport goes back a very long time. In the 1960's when the Union Area development was planned the Planning Officer was a person who was virtually blind and had to have models made which he could feel so that he could explain to the planning committee what was proposed. Very little of any quality was built then or has been built since. But the Council can't stop out of town shopping. They would be over-ruled by the Welsh Office, as they are on a regular basis even today. As has been said repeatedly on here but people still don't seem to understand, the business rates are not set the Council and do you call a pound for three hours expensive parking? If so what would you call cheap?

It seems to be forgotten that Newport Retail Park (which proudly emphasises "Newport" in it's name) is a big success and employs a large number of Newport people and attracts shoppers from a wide area. That is something to be proud of even if we can't be proud of the city centre.

Sevans84 wrote:
I don't even go into newport now I would rather pay parking at Cardiff and there is more of a choice of shops I remember that when I use to go into town it would take a good few hours to get round the shops now prob 5sec at a push I don't get where the council is getting all this money to do this and that when if they lowered the rent in town they would get more shops opening rather than shutting and getting more people spending there money and we prob wont mind paying for parking then why the HELL should i pay to park my car for an hour when there are hardly any shops in town

Also this government want us to be a greener then maybe they should put the shops into the town center so we don't have to drive to every retail park under the sun

The council can't lower rents on properties they don't own. Virtually all of Commercial Street is owned by private land lords.

Elmo - you would vote for a plank if it had a Labour rosette on it. Get your facts right if you are going to correct me - it's not hard!!

"Newport has Wales' highest vacancy rate of 27.9% while nearby Cwmbran has the lowest at 6%."

http://www.bbc.co.uk
/news/uk-wales-16923
180

I haven’t got any stats or facts about Newport to give, but I think it’s crazy how even myself of only being twenty can remember a brighter and happier Newport not so many years ago where you could spend your Saturday out shopping with a few friends.

Next, Burtons, Dixons and many more have gone since I have been visiting Newport and many more I can’t even remember, but what will we be left with? Pound shops, banks and a few travel agents! It’s so disappointing when you live so close to something that could be really special just waste away.

Woodgnome wrote:
Elmo - you would vote for a plank if it had a Labour rosette on it. Get your facts right if you are going to correct me - it's not hard!!

"Newport has Wales' highest vacancy rate of 27.9% while nearby Cwmbran has the lowest at 6%."

http://www.bbc.co.uk

/news/uk-wales-16923

180

You didn't say Wales in your original post and I have answered your question. Also,I have never voted labour in my life.

I can't seem to get you link to work to read it, but from what I know and if it is the same survey, the vacancy rate includes the shops purposely kept empty in the John Frost/Upper Dock St area. The actual figure, not including the ones earmarked for demolition, is much lower. Or was last year.

If any of the above is incorrect I apologise.

Thing about people who hurl around accusations that you would "vote for a plank if it had a Labour rosette on it", is that they would usually vote for a plank if it had a 'Conservative rosette' on it.

Bob, I see that you are at it again. Please provide a breakdown of the proposed Friars Walk development on a per sqft basis for all the market sectors, so that we can test your assertion that it is an office block and multi storey car car park. What's that...sorry I can't hear you; did you say that you don't have that information? Ah, ok then.

Exile Elmo wrote:

Woodgnome wrote: Elmo - you would vote for a plank if it had a Labour rosette on it. Get your facts right if you are going to correct me - it's not hard!! "Newport has Wales' highest vacancy rate of 27.9% while nearby Cwmbran has the lowest at 6%." http://www.bbc.co.uk /news/uk-wales-16923 180

You didn't say Wales in your original post and I have answered your question. Also,I have never voted labour in my life. I can't seem to get you link to work to read it, but from what I know and if it is the same survey, the vacancy rate includes the shops purposely kept empty in the John Frost/Upper Dock St area. The actual figure, not including the ones earmarked for demolition, is much lower. Or was last year. If any of the above is incorrect I apologise.

Actually Exile Elmo the original statement asked if any other CITY was in such a bad state as Newport. In your list of contenders I believe only Bradford is a city (and that is debateable), the rest are all towns.

CM1 - in my case you are totally incorrect. I found that in my voting lifetime parties have evolved and changed for the better or worse. Labour has, in my view, either not evolved at all in the case of Newport's Old Labour or in the case of national politics emerged in directions hardly distinguishable from other centre parties.

Do you vote for planks CM1?.

Even out-of-town shopping needs to be carefully planned, managed and integrated into the bigger scheme to be and remain successful. Newport Retail Park, Spytty, can hardly be called a mall of any suitable size and diversity to compensate for the dereliction of the city centre. A retail enterprise needs sufficient scale and access not only to meet present demand but to be able to expand. Sure, Marks and Spencer and GAP are moving in, but anyone using Spytty will tell you of already saturated car parking at peak times and traffic bottlenecks at adjacent SDR roundabouts and traffic lights. Several readers have already mentioned the need for a regular, frequent dedicated bus service to Spytty that offers opportunity to access the shops AND the leisure facilities around them long after office closing hours. Newport City Council and Newport Transport should already be working closer together to provide circular bus routes to Spytty around the periphery of the city, avoiding the city centre altogether.

For those who enjoy good town centre shopping you will be very, very pleasantly surprised by Abergavenny. Go to Aber and you'll find yourself asking how come the brand names have managed to stay in such a small town, while pulling out of Newport.

its not just the shops have you been drinking in the hell hole recently

This is all down to the over-optimistic plans of the council and Newport Unlimited (good riddance). The shops in the centre don't want to renew leases or renovate because they'll be moving to Friar's Walk. Only they won't because it will never get built. Unfortunately the council (under the Cons) invested money with the new developers to speed things along.

Cwmbran managed to get it right - a quick and straightforward improvement of the existing shops.

John Frost Square shops and the old multi-storey car parks need to be demolished as they're just an eye-sore. Just turn it into free parking for now.

Debanhams will not save Newport. Having a flagship department store in a sea of vacant units is hardly going to depict a hub of commerce and footfall. The issue lies in the simple fact that the council has let things slide for far too long. Our city center has three weatherspoons, several banks,travel agents, four coffee shops and several like-for-like nightspots, etc. There simply isn't enough left (at the moment) to warrant any form of investment opportunities for large companies to invest their time and effort in the town. The internet is just going to get better and better ( I never thought I would say those words to be honest) and can cater for peoples needs more easily and efficiently. For the older generations who detest technology or do not understand it or are deliberately ignorant to it and would prefer to keep things "as they were" well unfortunately it's not going to go back to the heyday of a booming city center. Its a simple fact. Most city centers around the country now are very much identikit with the exact same stores in each. Spytty has and soon will become the city centre of Newport. We can blame the council as much as possible but all of the stores that are going to Spytty are doing it because it is a much bigger space that will increase footfall and it is not a terrible looking area. I enjoy shopping in Spytty but I do miss the conveniance of walking Newport High street but there is not enough there now. Sooner or later it will become deserted and turn into a haven for the degeneration X that will spawn.

Having said that I look forward to the regeneration in 2015 (if it actually happens).

As has been pointed out, the council do not own the town centre buildings or set the rents and rates. It would be interesting to know who does own the buildings and set the rents, as surely it would be better for the owners to cut the rents for a period and at least receive some income, rather than nothing if they remain empty.

Iffy will soon own the entire vacent spaces and turn it into a Chav themed theme park complete with free rides on drunk blondes.

HurricaneShane wrote:
Iffy will soon own the entire vacent spaces and turn it into a Chav themed theme park complete with free rides on drunk blondes.

love it. best post so far

I actually think that the closure of the smaller independent trader is a tory ploy to boost big business.

High Street will get a huge boost when Nandos moves in. The best thing that could happen to the old M&S is if the re-open as a food shop only. A lot of people only go in the for food.

scraptheWAG wrote:
its not just the shops have you been drinking in the hell hole recently

I drink in town every week. Usually in the Pen and Wig, sometimes in Wetherspoons and I don't recognise the "hell hole" you describe. Don't know what you are on about.

why not use M&S for the poor people to stay at night install a soup kitchen nice

i get around much of south wales with my job, when i say i am from newport many have said oh never mind its not my fault.why does newport have such a bad name.

Jinxey wrote:

Bobevans wrote:

VoiceOfDaPort wrote:
Meanwhile we are all told that it'll be OK when the Friars Walk development is completed, in time for our afterlife, yet The Kingsway has been unable to fill half it's units since it was refurbished.

Dont' get mislead by Friars walk, That is not a shopping redevelopment. It is mainly an office block & multistory car park

What? Where the hell have you managed to get this rubbish information from?

"Friars Walk will offer over 390,000 sq ft (36,230 sqm) of retail and leisure space which includes a full offer department store, a multiplex cinema, a wide range of shops and restaurants, all supported by a new modern car park and bus station."

I see no mention of any offices? The Cambrian centre on the other hand yes it does.

Bob's well known for making things up and declaring it as fact.

D Taylor wrote:

scraptheWAG wrote:
its not just the shops have you been drinking in the hell hole recently

I drink in town every week. Usually in the Pen and Wig, sometimes in Wetherspoons and I don't recognise the "hell hole" you describe. Don't know what you are on about.

drink in weatherspoons says it all

Blame the customers is one option. As they are all buying on-line at half the price shops cannot compete with the rents they have to pay. A good use of an empty high street shop would be to put computers in there so those who are not net savvy e.g. elderly etc can have the same option, there is no going back, HMV could not compete with instant downloads. Argos will eventually close most high St stores too, because last year 43% of their trade was on line. Why open a shop and pay high rents instead ?

But Argos do order and collect which is a sensible way of combining shops and websites. To continue with this they have to keep their shops open.

scraptheWAG wrote:

D Taylor wrote:

scraptheWAG wrote:
its not just the shops have you been drinking in the hell hole recently

I drink in town every week. Usually in the Pen and Wig, sometimes in Wetherspoons and I don't recognise the "hell hole" you describe. Don't know what you are on about.

drink in weatherspoons says it all

What? I still don't know what on Earth you are on about.

For me we really need a revolution in politics. The 2-3 party system we have had is now redundant. These partys are just tools for big business to do their bidding. They have long not given a second thought to the local populance be it here or anywhere in the country. It is sad to see the desperate place Newport has become. I remember growing up in a vibrant town. When I started to drink Newport was a great night out. Westgate hotel,Queens hotel,Kings hotel,Sovereign,Osca
rs,Jekyll and Hyde,Arcade. Most of these now gone or taken over and reduced to a pitiful shadow of there former selves.
How we got here is by continuous councils betraying us and pandering to business interests.

> Newportresident said... "Finally – if you think Newport is such a bad place to live you have a simple option….leave" <

I would say as far as shopping is concerned, most people already have left.
So, that's not a very helpful comment.

One of the reasons shopping centres are failing is high costs to maintain a business resulting in higher prices there whilst customers are squeezed with taxes meaning they must be very cost conscious in seeking cheaper goods.

Another thing not mentioned, is the closure of city centres to traffic - for 'safer access' - and so people choose to go to out-of-town malls where they can park close to where they want to shop. Am I really the only one who can see this?

The city centre is dead. Virtually everybody recognises that and the car parking spaces will only be of use to access the offices that remain there. So if excess parking spaces is so expensive, then instead of charging fees that few will pay, the council should demolish them instead.

Merv's solution...CLASSIC!

Put computers in the closed down shops so people can come all the way into town to order goods online! You couldn't make it up.

I have in the past been accused of being a 'troll' for suggesting we bulldoze the town centre and turn it into a park - please reconsider.

town centre is gone, and the reason is no one wants it anymore, what people want is spytty and the like, you can park and all th shops are there.so its over i for one dont care less, its days are over

Bobevans. just keeping Kingsway Centre, John Frost Square and perhaps commerical street wont necessarily work. Voice of Da Port, why bother with Friars Walk when Kingsway can't fill its current units you ask?

I too was, and am still am, concerned about the vacant units in Kingsway. However, i've shifted my initial concerns and see logic in this development. Friars Walk could just be the lifeline Newport needs (yes i know it is a long time coming). Newport City (or town) Centre cannot survive the way it is, the last 10 years have proved this. Bring in more stuff to Newport centre, leisure and social stuff will attract. The friars walk development brings a cinema and eateries. this will hopefully entice people to come and spend longer in town . Bring in more leisure and social outlets for people to relax and get together, this will entice people in, and those already coming in to stay in longer , and make it more attractive for retailers to provide a presence in town also. I wouldn't be surprised if Marks and Spensors, Next took out units in Friars Walk once it arrives.

Yes Newport centre used to have a cinema but it required updating and didnt draw the numbers (or simply didnt make enough money for owners to want to keep it running). Also i would like to add that nothing can survive in isolation. The old newport centre cinema couldnt survive without other relevant facilities such as nicer places to eat, better shops.

As for the wasted money on new benches, flowers, gravel round trees. Well it does make Newport look like a more respectful place than the often complained about run down town look. The bottom of town near the Police Station looks cleaner and modern. Newport has tried to provide an environment that is attractive to retailers and shoppers (chicken and the egg).

finally, i am a single bloke who works 9-5 (ish). the only time i get to go into town is on the weekend. when i make a point of planning my meals i try and remember to pop into the market and buy my meat, veg from there, but supermarkets are more convenient because they are open later. why do you think xmas opening hours are so popular, for some of us that is the only time we get to shop when not in work - this is one of the reasons why the internet is more convenient for people.

i for one have hope for Newport. constant battering from other posters does nothing for prospective retailers. sure it gives the council a kick up the backside and also lets us residents vent, but some times it is too much.

There are quite a few Newport born multi-millionaires that have left our City. Why ? Where would they live ? We need to attract them back. We need them to invest locally.

Posters are correct when saying that we need a new political system instead of the same old parties who dont seem to give two hoots about the place they live in.

6,000 Independent Councillors were voted in at the last local elections in the UK. People who really want to work hard for their communities. This is what we need in Newport.

No chief whips in London telling them what to say or do locally.

Some posters on here would make great councillors. Unlike our present councillors some posters are passionate about their City and its future.

I will always vote Independent from now on.

Radio Wales wrote:
&gt; Newportresident said... &quot;Finally – if you think Newport is such a bad place to live you have a simple option….leave" &lt;

I would say as far as shopping is concerned, most people already have left.
So, that's not a very helpful comment.

One of the reasons shopping centres are failing is high costs to maintain a business resulting in higher prices there whilst customers are squeezed with taxes meaning they must be very cost conscious in seeking cheaper goods.

Another thing not mentioned, is the closure of city centres to traffic - for 'safer access' - and so people choose to go to out-of-town malls where they can park close to where they want to shop. Am I really the only one who can see this?

The city centre is dead. Virtually everybody recognises that and the car parking spaces will only be of use to access the offices that remain there. So if excess parking spaces is so expensive, then instead of charging fees that few will pay, the council should demolish them instead.

So why is it that Cwmbran and Cardiff have pedestrianised shopping centres, but they are doing well ?

Dolieboy wrote:

Radio Wales wrote:
&gt; Newportresident said... &quot;Finally – if you think Newport is such a bad place to live you have a simple option….leave" &lt;

I would say as far as shopping is concerned, most people already have left.
So, that's not a very helpful comment.

One of the reasons shopping centres are failing is high costs to maintain a business resulting in higher prices there whilst customers are squeezed with taxes meaning they must be very cost conscious in seeking cheaper goods.

Another thing not mentioned, is the closure of city centres to traffic - for 'safer access' - and so people choose to go to out-of-town malls where they can park close to where they want to shop. Am I really the only one who can see this?

The city centre is dead. Virtually everybody recognises that and the car parking spaces will only be of use to access the offices that remain there. So if excess parking spaces is so expensive, then instead of charging fees that few will pay, the council should demolish them instead.

So why is it that Cwmbran and Cardiff have pedestrianised shopping centres, but they are doing well ?

This is what confuses many, Cardiff and Cwmbran at least maintaining an sense of a busy High St. My suggestion re computer access, was as a social thing, young people don't care about distance travelling and have the means to access cheaper goods, many elderly don't. In part it accepts shops in Newport are a thing of the past, it never had the dynamic support of the City Council, and too much was closed too early in anticipation of business that never emerged.

CD's, videos etc are just victims of new technologies like VHS recorders, Vinyl, and tape decks. Then the City Council dug up roads, charged for parking, still kept high rents, except for charity that further spoilt whatever image Newport had left. Now putting a flash front on an empty high st market.

Newport open for business posters are just a huge joke let's face it. Newport has closed for all.

Mervyn James wrote:
Blame the customers is one option. As they are all buying on-line at half the price shops cannot compete with the rents they have to pay. A good use of an empty high street shop would be to put computers in there so those who are not net savvy e.g. elderly etc can have the same option, there is no going back, HMV could not compete with instant downloads. Argos will eventually close most high St stores too, because last year 43% of their trade was on line. Why open a shop and pay high rents instead ?

Why.? There are computers in the Library

merlin the silure wrote:
if any of you out there think that Debenhams(even if they come and yes they do have an escape clause) is going to be the saviour of Newps centre then you're all sadly mistaken.This City(??) is way beyond salvation.

Newport will simply noy support a large department store but it is typical of the daft grand ideas the Council has. It is another development that will fail

Shopping habits are changing and will continue to change. More shops will go from Newport. The multitude of Phone shops will start to decline as will the number of bank branches

Most shopping is now down out of town and online and that trend eill continue


High Street shops do not help themselves. They try to market themsewlves on service but they are deludfed the average shop has pretty dire service, Long queus on tills are common and that costs them business

Their refusal to adapt to modern shopping needs by changing their hours is another big reason they loose business

The market traders who are always keen to moan are amongst the worst most are closing up about 3:30pm. That is totally crazy as is not providing a home delivery option

Dolieboy wrote:

Radio Wales wrote:
&gt; Newportresident said... &quot;Finally – if you think Newport is such a bad place to live you have a simple option….leave" &lt;

I would say as far as shopping is concerned, most people already have left.
So, that's not a very helpful comment.

One of the reasons shopping centres are failing is high costs to maintain a business resulting in higher prices there whilst customers are squeezed with taxes meaning they must be very cost conscious in seeking cheaper goods.

Another thing not mentioned, is the closure of city centres to traffic - for 'safer access' - and so people choose to go to out-of-town malls where they can park close to where they want to shop. Am I really the only one who can see this?

The city centre is dead. Virtually everybody recognises that and the car parking spaces will only be of use to access the offices that remain there. So if excess parking spaces is so expensive, then instead of charging fees that few will pay, the council should demolish them instead.

So why is it that Cwmbran and Cardiff have pedestrianised shopping centres, but they are doing well ?

Dolieboy asked:-

"So why is it that Cwmbran and Cardiff have pedestrianised shopping centres, but they are doing well ?"

I can't speak for Cardiff but the very large FREE parking UNDERNEATH Cwmbran pedestrian area might just account for their popularity.
People who know it can park virtually underneath where they want to go.

Does it for me anyway!

Bobevans wrote:

Mervyn James wrote:
Blame the customers is one option. As they are all buying on-line at half the price shops cannot compete with the rents they have to pay. A good use of an empty high street shop would be to put computers in there so those who are not net savvy e.g. elderly etc can have the same option, there is no going back, HMV could not compete with instant downloads. Argos will eventually close most high St stores too, because last year 43% of their trade was on line. Why open a shop and pay high rents instead ?

Why.? There are computers in the Library

They are closing libraries ! anyway city centre is usually more accessible.

D Taylor wrote:
But Argos do order and collect which is a sensible way of combining shops and websites. To continue with this they have to keep their shops open.

They do indeed but they will reduce their High Street presence as they do not need as many stores and those they retain will be out of town or have good parking nearby

Newport Spark wrote:
For me we really need a revolution in politics. The 2-3 party system we have had is now redundant. These partys are just tools for big business to do their bidding. They have long not given a second thought to the local populance be it here or anywhere in the country. It is sad to see the desperate place Newport has become. I remember growing up in a vibrant town. When I started to drink Newport was a great night out. Westgate hotel,Queens hotel,Kings hotel,Sovereign,Osca

rs,Jekyll and Hyde,Arcade. Most of these now gone or taken over and reduced to a pitiful shadow of there former selves.
How we got here is by continuous councils betraying us and pandering to business interests.

The parties are not pandering to big business but rather to political dogma and to the electorate. Quite often what the electorate say and what they do are two different things. They will say they want their High Streets saved but they will not actually use them as they no longer serve modern needs for the majority of people. The same goes for Post Offices & Pubs & Royal Mail etc.
Things change and the High Street has to adapt and exchange. Its future roll will be a lot smaller than in the 1960’s. Probably in Newport about 40% of the retail space needs to go. Much of it could be converted back into homes. The same with Post Offices we need far fewer of them.

The trend away from the High Street continues. Today the Midlands Co-Op has anounced it is pulling out of the fashion & homeware business and will close all its 9 department stores about 388 jobs are affected

Peachy Keens are also moving to new premises on outskirts of Newport in March. The owners have stated they are struggling with the rates and location.

Doesn't all this beg the question - why in Heaven's name did those thousands of people sign a petition demanding Newport CC retain free parking? If there are no quality shops in the City centre, why would anyone want to take advantage of free parking? No, only if Newport City centre sees a rapid regeneration programme actually up and running, attracting big-name stores, should we be campaigning for that free parking!

Jacqui in Cwmbran wrote:
Doesn't all this beg the question - why in Heaven's name did those thousands of people sign a petition demanding Newport CC retain free parking? If there are no quality shops in the City centre, why would anyone want to take advantage of free parking? No, only if Newport City centre sees a rapid regeneration programme actually up and running, attracting big-name stores, should we be campaigning for that free parking!

Petitions are not a good indication of demand. Wave a petition under people noses and most will sign it even if they rarely uses the shops in Newport

High Streets are a throw back to the 1960's when most woman would go shopping every day. People do not have time for that now so go to somewhere where they can do a one stop shop after work. The High streets are not even open after 5pm

Bank branches will be the next to go. They have to date been slow to reduce the size of their branch network. Branches are very expensive to have and fewer & fewer people use them.

Jacqui in Cwmbran wrote:
Doesn't all this beg the question - why in Heaven's name did those thousands of people sign a petition demanding Newport CC retain free parking? If there are no quality shops in the City centre, why would anyone want to take advantage of free parking? No, only if Newport City centre sees a rapid regeneration programme actually up and running, attracting big-name stores, should we be campaigning for that free parking!

Whilst we are accepting the reality of the long-tern demise of the city centre shopping, we (or at least I) had hoped the council would see some kind of sense and not go pushing for an accelerated abandonment of the centre while we still have a hope that the optimistic development plan might finally go ahead.

To seal the fate of the existing centre will undoubtedly force the developers to look again at the wisdom of starting a project that is in a doomed area.

Once the city stops being the centre it will never regain that position, there are too many forces working against that with high standing charges ranking right up there in the front row with almost anti-social parking facilities.

Why isn't the city council pro-active and limit any more out of town planning permissions ? To promote the High Street instead. First they must match out of town rates, no good hanging on in the hope shops will come back and pay more than they are doing now. They are getting nothing from empty premises. What's to lose ?

Like many people here, I remember when the centre of Newport was much more successful than now. For people of my age (50s, I'm afraid) it is perhaps particularly sad, since the period when we were growing up was one of optimism, and Newport is in many ways a fundamentally attractive place (Victorian buildings, landscape, hinterland). However, Newport has suffered from a number of very difficult problems, many of which have been seen in other similar sized towns across the UK (Rotheram, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Rochdale, Grimbsy, Hull and, closer to home, Pontypridd, even Swansea). I am sure these adverse trends have been compounded by bad decisions made by the council, under both Labour and Conservative control, but such decisions are not the root cause of the problems. Fundamentally, Newport suffers from (1) being midway between two larger centres (Cardiff and Bristol), (2) having no catchment population to the south, because of the Bristol Channel, and (3) having had its attractiveness to northern areas blocked by what is really a very large and successful retail park (Cwmbran). Basically, Newport has been stuffed by its geography and by general economic trends favouring larger cities and out-of-town centres. The early signs were there in the late 1960s, with the Kingsway Centre being very had to let and remaining largely empty from the date of construction until Tesco moved in - temporarily, prior to their move to Spytty. The underlying problems were, as I said, probably compounded by bad decision on the part of the council - though these decisions weren't obviously stupid at the time. The bad decisions included getting rid of lots of attractive building in the 50s and 60s(e.g. the Town Hall and the Lyceum), and, in later decades, making it less attractive for relatively affluent (i.e. car-using) people to shop in the centre through a combination of parking charges and, more recently, ineffective bus lanes. Also, housing developments that might have brought large numbers of more affluent consumers to the area, and thereby supported retail, were resisted. I don't think any of these mistakes were made out of malice or stupidity - but their effects were disastrous.

So: what is to be done? Well, no-one knows for sure, certainly not me. But a few suggestions, none of them original:
1. Reintroduce free parking and commit to it for as long as Cwmbran maintains the same policy.
2. Find out what key retailers (especially Debenhams) want to make Friars Walk a success, and if at all possible, just do it.
3. Demolish immediately all buildings with no future (eg the Capitol Car Park) and make the sites attractive - either as more free parking or urban parkland. At least this will stop the problem of blight.
4. Do whatever is needed to convert attractive older buildings on Commercial St and High St into other uses, especially housing/flats - e.g. consider re-opening the streets to cars, and providing free parking on the sites of demolished derelict property.

I know this is a long post - but you didn't have to read it!

Mervyn James wrote:
Why isn't the city council pro-active and limit any more out of town planning permissions ? To promote the High Street instead. First they must match out of town rates, no good hanging on in the hope shops will come back and pay more than they are doing now. They are getting nothing from empty premises. What's to lose ?

This debate has been going on for 40 years. I mean stopping the out of town developments. Don't forget that some of the early ones such as Asda at Rogerstone (now long gone) were outside of Newport Borough when they were built. Even more so Cwmbran Centre. If Newport had successfully opposed out of town shopping even more Newport people would be shopping in Cwmbran/ Cardiff etc. where these new malls would have been built. It's also a mistake to think that Newport Council can stop developments anyway because they would be allowed by the Welsh Office on appeal. Refusing planning permission must be on planning grounds, not just because the Council wants to protect its own pet project from competition.

And, once again, the Council can't do anything to reduce business rates in the City Centre because these rates are nothing to do with them as has been said over and over again.

People with businesses in Town should appeal for a reduction in rateable values. Again nothing to do with the Council who do not set the RV's or the rates.

jonhpr wrote:
Like many people here, I remember when the centre of Newport was much more successful than now. For people of my age (50s, I'm afraid) it is perhaps particularly sad, since the period when we were growing up was one of optimism, and Newport is in many ways a fundamentally attractive place (Victorian buildings, landscape, hinterland). However, Newport has suffered from a number of very difficult problems, many of which have been seen in other similar sized towns across the UK (Rotheram, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Rochdale, Grimbsy, Hull and, closer to home, Pontypridd, even Swansea). I am sure these adverse trends have been compounded by bad decisions made by the council, under both Labour and Conservative control, but such decisions are not the root cause of the problems. Fundamentally, Newport suffers from (1) being midway between two larger centres (Cardiff and Bristol), (2) having no catchment population to the south, because of the Bristol Channel, and (3) having had its attractiveness to northern areas blocked by what is really a very large and successful retail park (Cwmbran). Basically, Newport has been stuffed by its geography and by general economic trends favouring larger cities and out-of-town centres. The early signs were there in the late 1960s, with the Kingsway Centre being very had to let and remaining largely empty from the date of construction until Tesco moved in - temporarily, prior to their move to Spytty. The underlying problems were, as I said, probably compounded by bad decision on the part of the council - though these decisions weren't obviously stupid at the time. The bad decisions included getting rid of lots of attractive building in the 50s and 60s(e.g. the Town Hall and the Lyceum), and, in later decades, making it less attractive for relatively affluent (i.e. car-using) people to shop in the centre through a combination of parking charges and, more recently, ineffective bus lanes. Also, housing developments that might have brought large numbers of more affluent consumers to the area, and thereby supported retail, were resisted. I don't think any of these mistakes were made out of malice or stupidity - but their effects were disastrous.

So: what is to be done? Well, no-one knows for sure, certainly not me. But a few suggestions, none of them original:
1. Reintroduce free parking and commit to it for as long as Cwmbran maintains the same policy.
2. Find out what key retailers (especially Debenhams) want to make Friars Walk a success, and if at all possible, just do it.
3. Demolish immediately all buildings with no future (eg the Capitol Car Park) and make the sites attractive - either as more free parking or urban parkland. At least this will stop the problem of blight.
4. Do whatever is needed to convert attractive older buildings on Commercial St and High St into other uses, especially housing/flats - e.g. consider re-opening the streets to cars, and providing free parking on the sites of demolished derelict property.

I know this is a long post - but you didn't have to read it!

An intelligent and perceptive post this. Well done.

I miss kingsway when it had the upstairs and downstairs! Business was booming in those days!
Its a real shame to see store giants like M&S closing in the centre of town as it is very inconveinient for the majority of their customers - the elderly, to travel to spytty.

All i keep seeing is charity shops popping up everywhere!!
Next one we'll see go will be Primark. If they go most shops will lose alot of trade.
And as for a Sunday, i dont see why shops open. Its so quiet and shops take such little money its not worthwhile.

I would love to see Newport full of all the shops and the cinema which they promised but to be honest i cant see it happening!!

D Taylor wrote:

Mervyn James wrote:
Why isn't the city council pro-active and limit any more out of town planning permissions ? To promote the High Street instead. First they must match out of town rates, no good hanging on in the hope shops will come back and pay more than they are doing now. They are getting nothing from empty premises. What's to lose ?

This debate has been going on for 40 years. I mean stopping the out of town developments. Don't forget that some of the early ones such as Asda at Rogerstone (now long gone) were outside of Newport Borough when they were built. Even more so Cwmbran Centre. If Newport had successfully opposed out of town shopping even more Newport people would be shopping in Cwmbran/ Cardiff etc. where these new malls would have been built. It's also a mistake to think that Newport Council can stop developments anyway because they would be allowed by the Welsh Office on appeal. Refusing planning permission must be on planning grounds, not just because the Council wants to protect its own pet project from competition.

And, once again, the Council can't do anything to reduce business rates in the City Centre because these rates are nothing to do with them as has been said over and over again.

People with businesses in Town should appeal for a reduction in rateable values. Again nothing to do with the Council who do not set the RV's or the rates.

It's more about preventing the expansion of out of town areas. Then ridiculous situation where any appeal can overturn a decision makes it all a joke. If the council has no power over rates, then Newport will shut down, empty premises won't provide any. Newport is being left to rot, urgent action needs to be taken. Maybe forcing these awful charities to stump up the same as everyone else will finally close another 15 shops on the hight street, those I won't miss. Are cwmbran rates cheaper than ours ? Cardiff can't be.

Newport Council do not receive the business rates. They are paid over to the WAG. So the Council are not losing rate income by these shops being empty.

These appears to be little difference in rateable values in Cwmbran Shopping Centre and Newport City Centre. The RV of M&S in High Street Newport was £525,000 or £79.20 per square metre. In Cwmbran £425,000 or £82.20 per square metre. The rate in the £ is set for the whole of Wales so is the same in Newport and Cwmbran.

Properties were last valued in 2010. Since then the value of shops in Newport has declined. So I am saying it should pay any shop-keeper in Newport Centre to apply for a reduction in RV.

A recent planning application by Tesco for a small shop in Rogerstone was turned down by the Council and allowed by the WAG. This is happening all the time.

I've had a look at the RV's of businesses at Newport RP. I was surprised. They are about 3 times the RV's in Newport City Centre. Asda at NRP have an RV of £240 a square metre. It may be that a premium is placed on ground floor area which shops at NRP have a lot of. Maybe other factors such as parking outside shop.

D Taylor wrote:
Newport Council do not receive the business rates. They are paid over to the WAG. So the Council are not losing rate income by these shops being empty.

These appears to be little difference in rateable values in Cwmbran Shopping Centre and Newport City Centre. The RV of M&amp;S in High Street Newport was £525,000 or £79.20 per square metre. In Cwmbran £425,000 or £82.20 per square metre. The rate in the £ is set for the whole of Wales so is the same in Newport and Cwmbran.

Properties were last valued in 2010. Since then the value of shops in Newport has declined. So I am saying it should pay any shop-keeper in Newport Centre to apply for a reduction in RV.

A recent planning application by Tesco for a small shop in Rogerstone was turned down by the Council and allowed by the WAG. This is happening all the time.

I doubt the WAG is getting much from Newport. What you suggest clearly points out where the blame lies, not in the recession, but in Newport's approach to the closures. Why do people prefer to travel out of Newport rather than shop here. The council doesn't care, why should we ?

Every shop that leaves Newport City Centre and goes to Newport RP increases the WAG's business rate take from Newport. M&S will probably pay about 3 times as much as when they were in Commercial Street. I hope they find it worth the effort and expense.

Over the years, we have had Disabled Protest groups campaigning to this council for ACCESS to the high street.

A few dropped pavements didn't change much. We had Disabled buses running to the centre but the council forgot to do a Disabled bus time-table. What use is that ?

It's always 'half a job done' with this council.

The out of town shopping areas however, have disabled bays directly outside the shop doors. So much easier and accessible.

Many Newport High Street shop owners are partly to blame as well.

There were grants available to make their shops accessible to disabled people but many have chosen to ignore the Law which should have been enforced by this council.

If you wanted disabled people spending money in the high street then you shouldn't of drove them away in the first place.

Shame on this council and the high street shops !

THe fact is people no longer shop in the High St to any extent. That is not going to change. The High St will play a much smaller part in retail in the future. Nothing will change that.

If you look at Newport most of the shoppers are pensioners and people who work in the City Centre

Most people will not shop in the city. One simple reason is they do not open after 5pm. THe other reason is they do not have the time and the third reason is it is an unpleasant place to visit..

'Unpleasant' doesn't adequately capture the Newport High St experience. Unsafe, depressing, offensive, chav ridden and dog cr*p infested. Throw in foul language and gobs of phlegm filling the gaps left between casually dropped Muckdonalds packaging and we're somewhere near it. A regeneration epic fail. Blame whoever you like. Local government, national government, parents, social services, Margaret Thatcher, teachers, drugs, Aneurin Bevans welfare state, chlorine in tap water, global warming...the song remains the same. Aahhhh that's better...but not for Newport City unfortunately.

Newportresident wrote:
Unfortunately times are changing and unless shops roll with it they will go out of business. No one is to blame here – it’s evolution. It is a shame that inner city shopping centres are becoming a thing of the past, but that’s just the way it is - we do however have good out of town shopping centres around Wales. As a 29 year old living in Newport, I find Spytty a great place to shop. Yes I do have a car, but even if I didn't there are services available to get me. To help Spytty boom I think it would be a good idea for more busses to run to and from the city centre. Hopefully this would help people without cars shop there more frequently. I think as soon as the new Queensway development is up and running people will stop moaning and will forget the bad times. It’s a hard world out there at the moment, so what we all need to do is help spur each other on in developing and making Newport a better place to live - this is easy to do. Instead of moaning that there is litter on the floor, just pick it up. We can’t keep living in this blaming society – it doesn’t do anyone any good. People can’t keep blaming the council for everything. Everyone who lives in Newport is responsible for it – have some pride in where you live. You respect your home, so why not the area you live in??? Finally – if you think Newport is such a bad place to live you have a simple option….leave

That is just brilliant, leave. Sell my house which has dropped in price over the last 4 years. This my friend is not a SIMPLE option for most of us. One developement will not save Newport. Alternate out of town shopping Cardiff Road, Spitty has killed Newport and that is final. THe council can be blamed, for years you cannot park close to local shops, you used to be able to park near the market front and back, not now. SHOP, PARK AND GO, Small areas for this everywhere, not multi storey car parks. All ovr France they protect the local shopkeepers, it would never happen, they would be up in arms. Try parking at the bottom end of Commercial Street day or night, local shops there are on a hiding. NCC had an oportunity to create 50 car spaces on Cardiff Road, ( Gilligans Island)
NCC buried a time capsual. MARVELOUS that'll bring the shoppers in. DULL