LESS than a week after investors said they had pulled the plug on plans to develop the old Sainsbury’s site in Newport, the £60 million proposals look to be back on the table.

On Friday, Stephen and Leon Fear said they were finished with attempts to redevelop the former supermarket site at Wyndham Street into a 601-bedroom student housing complex, 142 flats, and a hotel - amid 'exasperation' from attacks by vandals and thieves

But, despite another arson attack since then, the Fear Group pairing have now indicated they are prepared to make a remarkable u-turn, saying that - following renewed support from the council and local residents - they “certainly have no intention of pulling out at the moment”.

It was hoped work would begin this year on the two-year £60 million project, but Natural Resources Wales are still finalising a legal agreement with the developers regarding flood prevention work they are carrying out in the area.

Mr Fear said yesterday: "We want Natural Resources Wales to come to the wicket.

“These delays have not helped the situation at all and we will need some persuading.

“Whatever decision is made, it’s our intention to knock the building down and implement our part of the flood scheme.

“We are still very pro Newport and we still want to work with Newport in general but we’re getting fed up with it. Most investors would have walked away years ago, but we’ve got a lot of support from people around the site.”

Mr Fear also described the site he bought the site in 2010 the "worst attack site" they have ever owned.

The 2.67-hectare site on the banks of the River Usk has been vacant since Sainsbury’s moved to Crindau about five years ago, with buildings gradually falling into disrepair.

The Fear Group has already spent £300,000 on the application to transform it.

Tim England, flood risk manager for Natural Resources Wales, said last week that the environmental body had “worked closely with the group over the past 12 months” to ensure their development and the flood scheme goes ahead.

“The legal agreement has taken time to finalise but there have been no delays during the process,” he added.

Speaking to the Argus this evening, Stephen Fear said he has a meeting with Natural Resources Wales tomorrow.

"We are hopeful that tomorrow we will see the beginning of the end of this situation so we can get the building demolished," he said.

“Leon and I are determined; we have had terrific support from most of the local community and because of that, despite the fact we are very frustrated, we are not going to sell until we resolve the issue of demolition.

“We want to get the building down and make the site secure and do the preparation work.

“We have had various approaches about buying the site and we have turned them away. We don’t want to just leave it as it is, we have been involved in it too long.

“Our position is we want to get our agreements in place, demolish the building, tidy up the site and put our part of the flood alleviation scheme in place. We are definitely going to do that then we will do a rain check on how we proceed from there.

“We have not had second thoughts, we never would have just left the site like that anyway.

“We want to get the building down and tidy the whole area up so the development is prepared and ready to go whether we do it or someone else does it.”

He added: “We have had a lot of support from the city council, the fire brigade have been absolutely superb and are a great asset to the city of Newport. The police to be fair are paying attention now to this and trying to resolve these crime issues.”

Tim England, flood risk manager for Natural Resources Wales said: “This is a significant and important development for Newport and, as part of our flood scheme is on this land, we want it to progress as soon as possible.

“The size and complexity of both schemes has meant we have been working with the company to make sure we get it right for both parties and we can protect people and support the local economy.

“We have spoken with Mr Fear and have arranged a meeting with him and Newport City Council early next week to find a way forward as we recognise the value this development will bring to the local community.”