ONE of our most commented on stories last week was plans to transform Gwent Square in Cwmbran Centre which are set to be approved.

The new idea for Gwent Square plans include new lighting, street furniture, repaving and a replacement for the bandstand alongside colourful changes to some buildings.

A lot of you had opinions on this.

Here is what you had to say:

Looks exactly the same to me with an extra few trees.

mervynjames224

Wow. That’s truly amazing, can’t wait.

John Aldridge 8

Here’s an idea... Instead of following the lead of other towns and cities by tarting the place up, why not buck that trend, and use the excess cash they’re clearly sitting on (and have nothing better to do with) to keep the business rates down as low as possible?

Cwmbran is always busy, so I hardly see that they need to draw any more customers in. Instead, draw some more businesses in.

LL3W80

There are very few empty shops in Cwmbran. Yet new shops in Friars Walk are closing after being open for only a short period of time. The Candle Shop being the latest to go!

WhatIThink!

The replacement to the bandstand looks shoddy,, I don’t think there is a need to replace it just tart it up with some paint and new roof for example..

Also as someone has pointed out the clock that has been there forever since I was a child at least (but also has not worked 4 many years ) so maybe fix it, it’s a Cwmbran town landmark.

What’s the point in the trees? It’s a town centre not a nature reserve. Other than that paint and clad away!!

saucysaphire

Unlike Newport it is always a pleasure to shop in Cwmbran and this will make it even better.

ExNewport

They should invest in some cover from the elements on/above the square, kind of like Mcarthur Glen in Bridgend, then maybe some market stalls could use the open space and it would also give cover for events i.e bands etc to play in all weather conditions.

That would breathe life into Cwmbran town and attract more shoppers. Just an idea. I only notice concrete in Cwmbran. However if there was more to look at I might not just pop in and leave post haste when I choose to visit.

Shabnams2

ANOTHER story that went down well with our readers last week was Newport being home to the UK’s fastest moving property market.

According to the property website Rightmove, Newport is said to have the fastest moving market in the UK compared to last year.

Here is what you had to say:

Apparently, this is good news (?)

steve4028

The prices in this area are still considerably lower than other parts of the Country, which means that we are just catching up for over 10 years of decline?

Cymru Am Beth

Whilst this is good news if you are a Newport home owner of any sort, there’s not much detail in here about the numbers from Bristol and Cardiff merely looking to invest i.e. Buy to Let investors.

I suspect the numbers are high and therefore this only then pushes the house prices up for local people trying to get on the property ladder.

Drop Shot

Not going to make Newport a better place though is it. More people, same jammed roads, same hospital, doctors, dentists, schools etc. Newport City Council will probably just do their usual - bury their heads in the sand and do nothing.

John Aldridge 8

As a home owner, this is welcome news. But, am I right to assume that higher house prices will result in higher council tax, for all properties, bought, rented or housing associations?

half man half machine

AND finally we reported on the footbridge in Newport city centre closing for a spring clean this year.

Newport City Council has published a temporary closure order for the bridge over the River Usk, but it remains unclear as to when it will close when the order comes into force on April 1. The work is expected to take no longer than four weeks to complete.

Here is how you reacted:

About time, it was looking more than a bit grubby. The railway station could do with a good scrub too, it’s looking more green than silver..

Romulus

Sorry, but am I missing something here? Why should it take four weeks to clean the bridge? The part which the pedestrians and cyclists use could surely be cleaned effectively by half a dozen blokes with power hoses in an afternoon.

gmc

I do not understand why they built it in white. White will show-up all the dirt and vandalism marks. Black would have made it much less an eye-sore, after a period of time!

skipbifferty