CITY CENTRE FOOTFALL UP

The number of people visiting Newport city centre rose significantly in December, with recorded footfall of more than 1.3 million.The December footfall recorded 1,359,430 counts – up 29.12 percent on November and puts Newport ahead of similar sized towns and cities.

The busiest weekday was Friday 21 December, with 72,728 counts, while Saturdays were the busiest days on average - on Saturday 22 December there were 93,843 counts. The Springboard counter measures the number of ‘movements’ past a set location and is recognised as the most accurate way of measuring footfall in shopping areas. It was installed in early 2007 so year-on-year figures are not yet available.

MP SLAMS ARGUS DECISION TO CLOSE PRINTING PLANT

The decision to move the South Wales Argus to overnight printing will give local readers a poorer product, according to the paper’s local MP.Paul Flynn, the Labour member for Newport, criticised the move in a letter to the paper’s editor Gerry Keighley yesterday.He said: “What you propose is to rob Newport of a substantial numbers of jobs and skills and give your readers a poorer product. It’s not only the present staff who will be losing out, but future employees, and the city will be deprived of the newsprinting facilities that have been a feature of our industrial life for centuries. The change is being made for one reason only – to increase the profits of Gannett and Newsquest.”The paper will go to overnight printing as a result of the closure of its Newport printing plant, making 21 printers redundant.

PEACOCKS TO OPEN IN REATIL PARK

The improving retail offer in Newport Retail Park will receive another new addition shortly. Discount fashion outlet Peacocks will take up a new unit in the Park joining Next, Asda and an expanded Tesco store.

RIVERFRONT CAR PARK TO CLOSE

The Riverfront car park will close on Sunday 13 January to accommodate further regeneration work in the city centre.Alternative parking is available in the Granville Street car park opposite. Granville Street car park has 350 car parking spaces, making it larger than the current Riverside car park.There is multi-storey car parking at the Cambrian Centre, Capitol car park, at Park Square and the NCP on Queensway.

AM WELCOMES SCHOOL-LEAVER IMPROVEMENT

The number of pupils leaving schools in Newport without any qualifications has dropped dramatically this year. John Griffiths AM has welcomed the release of new figures which reveal a 15 per cent drop in the number of 15 year olds in Wales leaving full-time education without a recognised qualification in 2007 "I am delighted and encouraged that only 1 per cent of young people in Newport left full-time education last year without a recognised qualification. "

COPTHORNE FOR CITY SPIRES

The Copthorne hotel chain is to be the occupier of the hotel element of Newport's City Spires scheme, according to Property Week. The 126 bed development will occupy the landmark develpment opposite Newport railway station due to open in 2010.

ARGUS TO MOVE PRINTING PLANT OUT OF CITY

Newsquest's Welsh newspapers are set to be printed in England after the regional newspaper company announced plans to shut down its Newport printing operations, with the loss of up to 21 jobs.The regional newspaper company will also turn the Newport evening paper South Wales Argus into a morning paper as part of the changes, prompted by a review that found "significant spare capacity" in the company's printing plants.The plan, currently subject to staff consultation, would see other Welsh titles including the Penarth Times and the Western Telegraph in Pembrokeshire printed in England. This proposal would mean that roles of the 21 staff currently working in the Newport press, engineering and computer-to-plate areas would become redundant. The company has entered a 30-day consultation period to consider alternatives to redundancies. Unite Regional Officer, Garry Owen, said: "The paper is treating our members and also its readers with utter contempt with this immoral decision. The Argus should enter into meaningful discussions with us over ways and means of avoiding this move. The consultation period begins today and our first concern is for our members and their families, for whom this will have come as a major blow. We will seek urgent meetings with the management in an effort to retain the print facility in Newport thereby avoiding any job losses at all and certainly any compulsory redundancies. We believe that Welsh news should provide Welsh jobs."


The South Wales Argus, owned by Newsquest, is one of a few daily evening papers still printed and published in Wales. First published in 1892, originally by a localised family firm, it has a rich history in the Newport area.

MAINDEE POOLS SITE TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION

Newport City Council's attempts to find a suitable public use for Maindee Pool and House appear to have failed. The Council's Executive Member for resources, Eddie Burke has decided that the property should be sold at public action. The art deco building incorporating two pools opened on 14 July 1938 and was closed on 23 December, 2005 following the advent of the new swimming pool at the Sports Village in Spytty. The report of the Council's decision states "to sell the property would produce a capital receipt and relieve the Council of ongoing cost and liability. If the property fails to sell the Council will be at no greater disadvantage".

UNION CONFIDENT ABOUT FUTURE OF STEEL PLANT

Steel workers have been meeting in Newport to discuss their future after the city's Alphasteel factory closed. The workforce of over 300 people was sent home just days before Christmas, after the plant was put into administrative receivership.
General secretary of the union Community, Michael Leahy, told the gathering that he still remained confident about the plant's future. Administrators have said there is widespread interest in the factory. Mr Leahy, whose union represents many of those employed at Alphasteel, insisted that the steel industry remains big business.

ASSEMBLY BELIEVES LG PLANT COULD BECOME DATA CENTRE

The Welsh Assembly Government wants to kick-start the revival of the former LG semi-conductor plant, which costs £600,000 public money a year to maintain, by turning it it into a computer data centre. If consent for redevelopment is given by councillors, the factory could be used by private companies. An assembly government spokesman said the redevelopment would meet a growing demand for data centres. A planning application for the redevelopment of the site has been submitted by the assembly government to Newport city council.