PLANS to spend £100,000 towards promoting Newport as the ‘City of Democracy’ will be discussed later this month.

Newport City Council’s cabinet will be asked to agree a strategy for promoting Newport including a City of Democracy strapline for branding and the creation of an annual ‘Festival of Democracy’ at a meeting on July 19.

It is also recommended that the council explores ideas to encourage residents to become more involved in consultations and decision making on issues that impact on their lives and the future of Newport.

Last year, the council commissioned a report by an independent think tank, ResPublica, to explore how the concept could be developed.

Their report was unveiled at the City Summit in November and won support from partners across Newport.

But leader of Newport City Council’s opposition group, Cllr Matthew Evans, said he was “pretty appalled” at the situation.

“The council’s always saying how they don’t have enough money to replace a bin and suddenly they find £100,000 for a concept which I don’t think actually works.”

He said Newport business owners have shown opposition towards the plans and claimed the council has spent between £50,000 and £60,000 on the report by think tank ResPublica.

“If they’re really serious about this, give us some hard evidence that business people across the city think it is a good idea,” he added.

“I can think of 100,000 other ways of spending the money”.

The councillor also added money would be better spent developing existing festivals such as Newport Food Festival, rather than developing an annual Festival of Democracy.

Newport City Council state the Newport Economic Network (NEN) has played a “vital role” in trying to develop the city’s “story” which led to the City of Democracy concept.

NEN was established in 2014 as an informal advisory group on economic growth and a sounding board for partners across the city.

It is also being proposed to formalise the NEN with an independent chair.

A Newport City Council spokeswoman said leader Cllr Debbie Wilcox did not wish to pre-empt the cabinet meeting by making a statement before cabinet discussion.