STRUGGLING high streets are caught in a "spiral of decline" because shoppers on higher incomes are attracted to out-of-town retail parks, a Welsh minister has said.

But schemes like Newport's new indoor market have created "optimism" and will "hopefully have a ripple effect" on the fortunes of the surrounding area, it has been claimed.

More money for Newport city centre was urged in the Senedd this week, with one regional member for Gwent saying the city had "suffered significant challenges due to lack of investment over the years".

Laura Anne Jones called for "some radical and some very basic ideas" to "revolutionise" the city and other towns, such as helping smaller businesses set up an online presence, slashing business rates, and creating "shared retail spaces" which would give people more reasons to visit, other than shopping.

"We can't think of our high streets as purely shops anymore," she said. "We need to be creative and inventive with the space that we have to offer, creating a shopping experience that is a different to anything that you can get online.

"Town centres need to be a place where people come to learn, for public services, to live and to share time. They have to have the whole mix, and it needs to keep moving with the times."

Recently, as part of the Argus' Our City series, we spoke to Newport City Council leader Jane Mudd and opposition leader Matthew Evans for their views on how to build a city centre for the future.

Cllr Mudd was also of the view Newport could not survive on retail alone, and said the council wanted to promote a "mixed use" city centre. Cllr Evans said the night-time economy should be strengthened and parking fees cut.

In the Senedd, Ms Jones also said "simple initiatives like offering business rate discounts for independents and entrepreneurs, refusing out-of-town planning approval and scrapping parking charges will go a long way in helping our high streets".

She noted a recent Centre for Cities report which suggested Newport had a higher proportion of empty shops than any other city in Britain – something the council has challenged.

Lee Waters, the Welsh Government's deputy minister for climate change, said there was "a clear consensus on the problem" of declining town centres, but "no real clear consensus on the solution, because this is complex".

He said the rise of the supermarket and out-of-town shopping complexes had hammered the traditional high street, capped by the move to internet shopping.

"The move out of town, and then the move online have all come together to make town centres across the UK shadows of their former selves," he said.

Research showed towns formed "doughnuts" of low-income neighbourhoods around town centres, "driving a difference of cash flow into the town centre, whereas out of town are attracting higher income customers, which is in turn driving the type of shops and creating a spiral of decline", Mr Waters said.

There is some "optimism", as seen in Newport, he added.

"No doubt it has struggled, as lots of towns have struggled," he said. "There has been some £30 million of Welsh Government investment in Newport.

"But I think the new revived market is an example of where the council's worked dynamically alongside the Welsh Government and the private sector, and we are hoping to see next month the opening of the new Newport market with over 100 traders, a food court, a bar, workspaces, a gym and a rooftop garden.

"I think that will create a positive dynamic which will attract people in, which will hopefully have a ripple effect."

• This is one of a series of 'Our City' features looking at Newport and the people who call it home.