PLANS for an £87m retail and leisure scheme in Newport city centre met with a positive reception from residents.

The proposed hotel, office and apartment complex would dramatically change the city skyline with a 23-storey skyscraper as the centrepiece.

The new buildings would be called the City Spires, and would replace much of the Cambrian Retail Centre, which was bought by Manchester-based Modus for £10m earlier this year.

Damian Flood, development director of Modus, the company behind the plans, said: "This development will put Newport back on the map. Cardiff has seen a boom in recent years and we feel it's time Newport had one."

Mr Flood said it would improve the range of retail and hotel facilities in the city, while the apartments would introduce a new kind of "city centre living".

At a public consultation in the Indoor Market yesterday, city residents seemed encouraged by the prospect of a major revamp near Newport's train station.

Owain Vaughan, a 32-year-old internet analyst of Lancers Way, Newport, was firmly in favour of the plans.

He said: "The Cambrian Centre is looking a bit tatty and the space could be used a lot better. We need to revitalise that end of town."

However his partner, Tanya Hughes, also 32 and a software engineer, was not convinced.

"It's nice but I'd rather it was a bus station," she said.

"The bus station needs to be nearer the train station. That would encourage more people to take public transport."

Mary North, 60, a housewife from Ringwood, said: "It should bring more jobs and give the city a boost. It's about time Newport had something like this - it's starting to look a bit tired."

Mandy Schiller, a 43-year-old trader in Newport's Indoor Market, moved to the city six months ago.

"From what I've seen the image of the city could be improved, and I think this would certainly do that," said Miss Schiller, who lives in Lliswerry.

Some residents appeared sceptical about whether the plans would ever see the light of day.

"I've seen so many plans, drawings and ideas that don't actually happen," said Bill White, 63, a landscape gardener of Gaer Park Road. "I'd like to see the whole city centre refurbished, but are we going to see it done?"

Charles Grande, 37, of Monnow Way, Bettws, said the proposals would "enhance the city in terms of attractiveness."

Modus, which is also overseeing the £175m redevelopment called Friars Walk in John Frost Square, will submit the planning application for City Spires next week after the public's comments have been taken on board.

If planners give it the go-ahead, the scheme could be completed by 2009.