THE Centurion pub in St Julians, Newport, has been declared surplus by Newport City Council, paving the way for the land to be redeveloped for affordable housing.

The council’s decision, signed off yesterday by deputy leader Mark Whitcutt, comes less than a year since The Centurion closed and was put up for sale, on the condition the establishment remained a pub.

READ MORE: St Julians pub The Centurion is up for sale - on the condition it remains a pub

Newport City Council noted that the pub’s former leaseholder, ei Publican Partnerships, had “sought to dispose of the pub to a publican/ company that would maintain the building as a public house”, but there was no interest shown to maintain The Centurion as a pub.

It has been suggested in council reports that the site had been losing money for some time.

The lease was then bought for £145,000 by P and P Builders, who proposed demolishing it and redeveloping the site with eight affordable homes.

The building firms’ plans proved unpopular with local residents and former patrons of The Centurion, who voiced their opposition at a public meeting and organised a petition to save it, gaining more than 600 signatures.

Signatories gave impassioned reasons for saving the pub, with one man calling The Centurion a “community asset”.

READ MORE: Residents say 'no' to Centurion Pub being turned into housing at public meeting

In its report on the site’s future, Newport City Council explained it supported declaring the land surplus because the move would “bring the Council a small capital receipt, provide much needed affordable housing and ensure that the site does not just become a vacant derelict property”.

Newport City Homes had confirmed it would be interested in purchasing the freehold and then working with P and P Builders to develop the site, according to the council report.

“In light of one of the thirteen wellbeing priorities being that people have access to stable homes in a sustainable supportive community, the plan notes that the housing offer must provide the right homes of the right tenure in the right place,” the council decision read.

“The plan was developed by partners from all sectors…and developed from extensive consultation, and therefore the reuse of the land as housing was felt appropriate.”

Following the council’s decision, The Centurion site will be disposed of on terms recommended by Newport Norse.