MRS Oakendon (today’s SW Argus letters) is so right.

Newport has sadly declined over the past thirty or so years and it’s not difficult to locate the smoking gun: Newport Council and their planners.

I cannot think of another town or city in the UK where you step out of the main rail station onto a dual carriageway - and then find that the bus station is a quarter of a mile away!

And there’s no mystery as to why the high street features so many empty units and charity shops and short-lease outfits. The blue-chip, long-term, household brand retailers have all moved to Spytty Park, aided, no doubt, by incentives and business rates holidays.

Newport market is a marvellous building, but the council again couldn’t resist mucking about with it.

The policy of clustering all the drinking establishments at one end of the town means that Commercial Street becomes a ghost town after six o’clock at night - you can practically hear your footsteps echoing down it.

I don’t have a solution, or know what the future may hold: the developments along the waterfront and the growth in student numbers are hopeful signs, but nothing will really change until we get a council with vision and common sense.

Over to you, voters of Newport.

Stephen Mullis
Cowbridge Road East
Cardiff