A GROUP of concerned Newport parents and residents have highlighted traffic issues blighting their area - branding solutions to date "not good enough".

Traffic at the junction of Fields Road, Mill Street and Queen's Hill in the Pentonville and Allt-yr-Yn areas of the city has been an ongoing issue for some time.

Now, however, things have come to a head - with a group of concerned members of the public saying things have become worse, and face the possibility of such a trend continuing.

That is, they say, because of the ongoing development near St Mary's RC Primary School which will see more houses - and therefore more cars - in the area.

Plans for housing at the site were first submitted in 2014, but objections were raised over the proposed access to the site.

It was then given the green light in 2018.

Recent work was also undertaken on the Fields Road-Queen's Hill junction, taking away the need to stop for those turning left from Fields Road.

This, residents say, was a step in the wrong direction as far as safety is concerned.

Mark Crowley has children who go to St Mary’s RC Primary.

He said: "When it comes to the health and safety of children, there’s no bigger drum to bang.

"I don’t know what’s going on.

"Everyone is saying it’s everyone else’s fault. In the middle there are the children and the parents who take them to school."

He pointed to the addition of construction traffic to the area as further reducing safety levels for children and pedestrians.

"There should be planning conditions in place to improve the roadway and make it safer," he said.

"This usually takes place before construction starts.

"It’s not good enough. It’s clear they [Newport City Council] have not done a road layout survey.

"The removal of the junction at the bottom of Fields Road has made the road more unsafe. How did it get signed off?

"There isn’t even a ‘slow’ marked on the road warning people that it’s such a sharp bend."

The group of parents and residents suggested alternatives for the junction, such as a mini roundabout, traffic lights, raised kerbs and barriers or simply a ‘give way’ sign.

They said the left-hand bend is a "blind junction", with motorists often mounting the kerb to get round the corner.

They also said additional pedestrian crossings were needed on Fields Road.

The group said it will "probably take a child being seriously injured or killed for something to happen".

Two police community support officers from Gwent Police attended the meeting and told concerned parents that they would feed back their issues to their superiors.

Gwent Police were contacted for further comment.

Newport City Council’s Matthew Evans, who represents the Allt-yr-Yn ward and is leader of the opposition, said that he would endeavour to schedule a further meeting with the group, as well as representatives from St Mary’s RC Primary.

He also said that he would feed back their complaints to the council.

Newport City Council have previously said that they are aware of speeding issues in the city and wider area.

They say that details of changes to speed limits throughout the local authority area will, they anticipate, be published by the end of this year.

"Officers are currently assessing all Newport roads, including those in Llandevaud, as part of our work to implement the new default 20mph speed limit across Wales, which will come into force next September," a spokesperson for the council said.

"As part of this assessment, we are required by Welsh government to publish a map of our network, showing which streets will default to 20mph and which streets we propose to keep at 30mph.

"We anticipate this will be published before the end of the year, and we will inform residents as soon as it is available to view."

Fields Road, approaching the junction with Queen's Hill, is already a 20mph zone.