UPDATED: Election hopefuls clash at Argus hustings

Candidates running for Labour, the Conservatives, the newly-formed Newport Independents Party, Plaid Cymru, Ukip and the Green Party at next week’s local government election appeared at the event at the University of South Wales, which was chaired by Argus editor Nicole Garnon, to field questions on topics including regeneration, education, litter and fly-tipping and local services.

On regeneration, the panellists agreed Friars Walk had been a positive development for the city, but more remained to be done.

Labour council leader Debbie Wilcox said the party had a number of plans to continue the regeneration of the city.

“We need to build on our success and we need to build a better Newport,” she said.

She added: "Labour will ensure the council's resources are used to drive investment in the city."

But head of the city’s Conservative group Matthew Evans criticised the Labour group for, in his opinion, neglecting parts of Newport outside the city centre.

"I have always said Friars Walk should be the start of regeneration, not the end," he said.

He added: “Success breeds success.

“If people keep slagging off Newport people are going to stop coming here.”

When pressed, Mr Evans said he expected the Conservative's frequently-repeated plan to bring back two hours free parking in council-run car parks would cost £250,000 a year.

Leader of the Newport Independents Group Kevin Whitehead, who enjoyed vocal support from the audience, said he agreed other areas of the city needed support. 

"Friars Walk is ten yard away from what some would call scenes of Hell," he said.

"There's people sleeping in doorways, there's drugs, and we need to deal with it."

Jonathan Clark, representing Plaid Cymru, said: "Friars Walk is a step in the right direction but it's not the be all and end all."

And Tim Price, representing Ukip, said he was concerned about the impact of the development on the rest of the city.

"Friars Walk is extremely well done but what it has largely done is drive a lot of activity out of the city centre," he said.

"That's not good."

Panellists also answered questions on local services, with deputy leader of the Wales Green Party Pippa Bartolitti saying residents needed to be given a say when decisions would directly affect their communities.

"The people who live in these communities know what needs to be done," she said.

Education proved one of the most emotive subjects, which passionate representations from members of the audience about their personal experiences.

All the panellists agreed on the importance of education for both young people and adults, with Mr Evans saying: "We will ensure young people have the best start in life through education."

Mr Whitehead said it was important to listen to the needs of the community when developing education provision.

And Mr Price said he believed the schools in Newport were "pretty good".

"But some areas of my district wonder why their kids go to one school and thier neighbours another," he said.

On local services, Ms Wilcox said the council is struggling under budget cuts by the UK Government, to groans from the audience.

And Mr Clark said he was concerned cuts to rubbish collections would simply result in more fly-tipping.

But he said he recognised budgets were stretched and said: "If you don't vote in the local government election make sure you vote in the Westminster election because that will affect the budgets in Cardiff which will affect the budget in Newport."

But Mr Evans said a Conservative-controlled council would do more to crack down on fly tipping.

"We are tired of seeing fly tipping, litter louts and dog fouling going unpunished," he said.

"We will impose tougher penalties."

But Mr Price said the answer was simply to encourage people to take more care.

"Mess breeds mess," he said.

"If more people take care it would look better."

And Mr Whitehead said he would like to see a levy charged on fast food companies to help clean up litter.

Ms Bartolotti agreed a sense of pride in the city was key to keeping it clean: "You can go somewhere like Sheffield and the streets are shiny and clean.

"I would like them to be shiny and clean in Newport."

And Ms Wilcox praised the city's schools for their work to educate young people about litter and recycling.

"The youngsters in our schools in Newport are educating us on litter," she said.

Looking forward to what Newport would look like in a few year's time, Mr Clark said: “Where we should be in four or five years time is a far more prosperous and far more peaceful city which is more content with itself.”

Mr Evans said he hoped to see more independent businesses trading in the city.

"I would like to see people working in the city rather than commuting," he said.

"I want to see Newport fulfil its potential.

"We've got potential and great people."

Mr Whitehead said he was prepared to work with colleagues of all parties if elected next week.

“While we war we will not go forward,” he said.

Mr Price said he believed council members should do more to make themselves accessible to the people they represent.

“A councillor’s job is to be your interface with the council,” he said.

“Everybody has access to one but I don’t think many people know that.”

And Ms Bartolotti said, while she was pleased to see developments working to improve employment for young people such as the university’s Cyber Security Academy, she believed more could be done in this area.

“A place has to have a certain sexiness about it for young people to want to live here and come back bring their friends,” she said

“But only a few people can get jobs in software. Just imagine if we had a tidal lagoon.”

The Liberal Democrats, who are fielding 23 candidates in next week's election, declined an invitation to take part in the event.