NEWPORT and Valleys communities should come together with Cardiff to form a Cardiff City Region to boost the economy, says a report The Welsh government report calls for a region to be formed that stretches from Bridgend to Pontypool and covers 1.4 million people.

It calls for collaboration between local authorities with issues such as housing, transport and the economy discussed at a city region level, rather than just council by council.

But it leaves a question mark over how such a city region would be governed, while the city region task and finish group which produced the report said it had received no support for a region based around Newport.

Dr Elizabeth Haywood, chairwoman of the group which wrote the report, said: “Welsh cities are very small by comparison with a lot of world megacities.”

She said the only way to make Welsh cities competitive was to build a “critical mass”, but because the cities aren’t that big, that has to be done within regions.

“It can help deliver a step-change by creating a better planning system, better transport connections, a better match of skills to work, and a more attractive investment proposition,” she said.

City regions should investigate and economic strengthens and weaknesses, the report recommends, and measures should be put in place to identify and address skill gaps on a city region rather than individual local authority basis.

Housing planning must be organised at a city region level rather than by local authority, the report said.

See the full report: