A NEW home for Newport Magistrates’ Court could be finished by 2013, the court service said.

Newport City Council’s planning committee gave unanimous backing to plans for a state-of-the-art courthouse in Pill in October 2009 and initial groundworks are now under way on the site in Mission Court, off Lower Dock Street.

A Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service spokeswoman said: “Plans to develop new law courts in Newport are being progressed.

Initial ground works are being undertaken on the Lower Dock Street site, and it is anticipated that the new courthouse will be completed in summer 2013.”

The new building would include four courtrooms over three storeys, along with holding cells for defendants, a 22-space car park and public spaces for visitors.

Up to 34 new jobs could be created, with some positions filled by transferring staff from other courts.

Proposals for a new magistrates’ court were first mooted in 1987 and the current magistrates’ court on Clytha Park Road was declared unfit for purpose more than 11 years ago.

There are three courtrooms in use in the existing building, with magistrates and district judges also making use of one of the courtrooms in the crown court nearby.

The new courthouse will be a contemporary design that could become a modern landmark for the city with a plate-glass entrance hall opening on to Usk Way.

The court service will also be striving to achieve BREAM excellence, by designing the building to be as environmentally friendly as possible.