COMPETITION among fitness clubs both public and private is set to intensify in Gwent with the arrival of a £3.5 million newcomer to Wales.

The area already has more than 20, not counting the gym and fitness suites attached to local authority leisure centres.

Bannatynes, which claims to be the UK's largest independent health club company with clubs in Scotland and the north of England and a few in SE England, starts work soon on a riverside site at Newport.

It will employ around 30 staff. But as well as adding to customer options in a fast-growing area of business, its choice of location could be a spur to further development of Newport's derelict, docks-related riverside land.

By providing a 20-metre swimming-pool among facilities at its Lower Dock Road site it will take on the smaller clubs in the private sector which do not have pools and aim to offer the sort of membership benefits currently obtainable from hotel-based clubs, such as the Celtic Manor Resort at Newport and the Marriott St Pierre near Chepstow.

Construction is expected to begin during the next few weeks and the opening date is scheduled for the beginning of next year.

The 50 acres of the Old Town Dock below George Street bridge on the west bank of the Usk is being bought up by Newport council and the Welsh Devel-opment Agency in order that it can be developed as one single area.

Council maps already show the area split up into sections for housing retail and leisure, and the arrival of Banna-tyne's is as much an expression of faith in riverside regeneration as anything else.

Director Duncan Banna-tyne said: "As well as being at the centre of the riverside's regeneration, we will also be creating new jobs for the area, which is always pleasing. "Bannatyne Fitness is bringing top quality health and fitness facilities to Newport and I am looking forward to the start of the site's development.

"We have seen tremendous growth over the past couple of years, which reflects people's desire to keep fit in well-equipped and high-quality surroundings."

Council planners for the area have been looking for 'trigger' developments which will encourage others to look favourably at the site.

Though the Old Town Dock is a circumscribed parcel of land, any development close to it would be welcomed as regenerative.

Among added attractions will be proximity to the Southern Distributor Road, which will cross the river south of the site close to a planned supermarket.

Bannatyne is planning to accommodate 3,500 members paying about £42 a month. While the club is being built, the company will have a demountable cabin on site, showing potential members what they can expect to buy for their money.

As well as the pool, there will be a large gym with cardiovascular and resistance machines, an extensive aerobics area offering up to 60 classes a week and a "Spinning Studio", which consists of resistance exercise bikes in a darkened area with disco lights and music.

The docklands site was found for Bannatynes by Cardiff property consultants Stephenson and Alexander. Newport council were selling the site and the company acted as procurement agents.

"Basically, it just met all their requirements," said S&A's Jason Jones. "They wanted a main arterial route nearby and what excited them was that this site offered a a new road layout. Other developments are surely going to take place thereafter."