BEING a Newport resident since birth, I love this city of ours, warts and all, and would love to see it flourish once again as a thriving, throbbing metropolis.

The honey pot which is to attract more visitors to our fair town is being erected at a steady pace and hopes to be opened, I believe, in the autumn of 2015. I hope that on Newport council’s agenda there are plans to ensure that visitors will want to come back again, and not be frustrated trying to find their way around.

They need to ensure that the bottleneck outside the Royal Gwent is sorted by removing the traffic island, and replacing it with a pelican crossing, that parking in the city centre is free, that all directional signs into Newport can be clearly seen by motorists (not as at the present moment in time, covered or obscured by trees or foliage and cannot be seen until you’ve passed them, if at all). All these things matter.

Perhaps our council leader, Bob Bright, has the answers. If what I suggest is not put into place, people will continue to go to Cwmbran to shop where access is easy and parking is free.

Norman Plaisted, Vivian Road, Newport