GWENT chief constable Carmel Napier’s decision to retire, revealed exclusively by the Argus yesterday morning, raises more questions than it answers.

I should make it clear that Mrs Napier has every right to retire at a time of her choosing.

She has completed 30 years’ service in the police force and is entitled to her full pension and benefits, as are all police officers with such long service.

But it is the unusually swift manner of Mrs Napier’s departure that raises questions.

Rumours have been rife for some months of a difficult relationship between the chief constable and Gwent’s police and crime commissioner Ian Johnston.

I think it is fair to say Mrs Napier is seen as a thoroughly modern chief constable while Mr Johnston, a former head of CID with the Gwent force, is seen as somewhat old school.

Such perceptions may be simplistic. The rumours concerning their working relationship may have no basis in fact.

What is undeniable, however, is that Mrs Napier and Mr Johnston had a quite remarkable public disagreement last month.

In an interview with the Argus, Mr Johnston suggested some crimes were not being recorded properly in order to make statistics look better.

Mrs Napier hit back almost immediately, saying that such comments risked damaging morale among rank-and-file officers.

To have the person responsible for strategy and the person responsible for operations at loggerheads over such a high-profile issue was far from healthy for Gwent Police.

Questions will have been raised in many people’s minds about how sustainable the relationship was between the chief constable and the PCC.

Of course, there may be no connection between the pair’s working relationship and Mrs Napier’s decision to retire.

The only people who can tell us whether the issues are connected or entirely separate are Mrs Napier and Mr Johnston.

Whether either of them decides to make any further public statement remains to be seen.

For now, though, Mr Johnston faces the biggest decision of his term in office.

He has to hire a new chief constable and make sure that person delivers on the priorities he has set for the force.

We live in interesting times.

Big names offering hope for our city

THE Argus also revealed exclusively this week that two more big-name stores had signed on the dotted line to be part of the long-awaited Friars Walk development in Newport city centre.

The decisions by Next and Top Shop should be welcomed by everyone with Newport’s best interests at heart. With the two new names joining Debenhams and Cineworld in confirming store space at the new shopping centre, the likelihood is more will follow quickly as retailers tend to display a herd mentality.

Good things are beginning to happen to the city centre.

Work on the Admiral building is advancing quickly, Simon Gibson’s task force is up and running, and the plan for a Business Improvement District is moving forward.

Such projects take time and require patience. We are still in tough economic times.

Many Newport people will, understandably, remain sceptical until they see Friars Walk taking shape.

But there are more reasons now to be positive than there were 12 months ago.

Middle-lane muddlers face fine

I DO A LOT of motorway driving and – while I am far from perfect behind the wheel – I get easily annoyed by people who sit in the middle lane for mile after mile, apparently unaware there is an inside lane.

So I’m a big fan of the government’s plan to give police the powers to give middle-lane hoggers £100 on-the-spot fines.

My only disappointment is that the fine is so low.