To provide an opportunity for Councillors to ask questions to the Leader of the Council in accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders.
Process:
No more than 15 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for questions to the Leader of the Council.
The question must be addressed through the Mayor or the person presiding at the meeting and not directly to the person being questioned.
Minutes:
Before Questions, the Leader gave the following announcements.
Leader’s Announcements
Royal Visit
The Mayor and the Leader welcomed Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, Princess Anne on a recent visit to the Newport Ship and the transporter bridge earlier in the month.
Both are key parts in the story of Newport. They show the city’s heritage as a trading port and an industrial city. They evoke memories of the past and amazing work is taking place so that they can be enjoyed and celebrated by generations to come.
At the Newport Ship centre, Her Royal Highness was given a tour of the works, from the initial excavation through to the current day, as well as future plans. She also became the first person to sign the Centre’s brand-new visitor book.
Students and professors from Cardiff University were on hand to talk about some of the artefacts that were found during the excavations, and how these have been conserved.
Her Royal Highness was also able to step back in time to experience what life was like on the ship, thanks to a virtual reality headset which the project team has developed in conjunction with researchers at Swansea University.
The Leader paid tribute to former councillor Charles Ferris and thanked him for his work and continued work to support heritage assets in Newport.
Her Royal Highness has a keen interest in engineering, so naturally a visit to the city’s engineering icon, the Newport Transporter Bridge, was necessary.
It was amazing to be able to include staff, volunteers, The Friends, and local students in the visit who were all able to share their involvement in our cultural gems. Her Majesty was extremely interested in their work.
Additionally, in other cultural news, the Leader had welcomed Benji Webbe as a guest to the Civic Centre and showed him the murals as part of a tour of the Civic Centre. Benji Webbe is the Leader of Skindred who recently received Best Alternative Must Act at the MOBO Awards. The Leader congratulated Benji and his band members on their success and MOBO Award.
Electric cleansing vehicle
The Leader made reference to the electric street washer which is active in the city centre - harnessing the power of renewable energy to help clean the streets of Newport.
The Addex Electra 2.0 Hydro Street Washer is the latest addition to our electric vehicle fleet. The Council is currently trialing its use to see what impact it has on cleaning schedules. This was important as there was a lot of queries about street cleansing. The Street Washer runs on 100% electric power and is estimated to save around 22,500 kgs of CO2 annually when compared to a diesel-powered equivalent.
As well as running on clean energy, the vehicle does not use chemicals so reducing impact on paving, while still delivering the same results as a manual jet wash.
Using the street washer in key areas will also free up cleansing operatives to help cover more of the city.
Equipment like this has the potential to tackle an issue we know is important to residents, in a way that is better for the environment and streets and helps tackle the climate and ecological emergency.
Cosy Cinema
Newport is set to get a new leisure experience with the development of Cosy Cinema in one of the empty retail units within Chartist Tower. The Leader recently went along to see the progress on the project which is due to open later this year.
Fifteen pods are being created which can accommodate up to six people for daytime film viewings and overnight stays can also be booked.
The exciting venture has already been a big hit at two other two sites, but Newport’s will be the largest venue so far and the only one that is indoors. The business, started by former Newport RFC player John Colderleyand his wife Sian, won the backing of two of the panel on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, including former footballer Gary Neville.
The Leader said that she is pleased that the Council is able to support this project, with funding also coming from the Shared Prosperity Fund and the Development Bank of Wales.
This is an exciting development for the city centre, something different and new. It will be great for Newport residents but will also attract more visitors from further afield which will inevitably benefit other local businesses.
City and town centres are changing, and Newport is leading the way. The city centre is moving to a more vibrant mix of independent traders, shops, fantastic music and hospitality venues and residential use.
Lunar New Year
The Leader was delighted to work with the Newport Chinese Community Centre and Newport Live to bring a spectacular Lunar New Year Celebration to the city centre earlier this month for the first time.
Titled ‘The Dragons Are Coming!’, the event featured performances, workshops and activities all celebrating the spirit of the Lunar New Year. The city centre streets were brought alive with energy and excitement thanks to mesmerising lion dancers. Mr Mayor was delighted with the performance which is available to watch on YouTube.
It was amazing to see families and communities come together, and we hope to deliver more positive events like this in the future.
The Leader had visited the cultural hub in Pill, which was derelict two years ago but commitment from volunteers to provide this facility was outstanding and the Leader was pleased to see that it has been transformed. The Leader Congratulated everyone involved and said that she looked forward to seeing it open soon.
In addition, the Welsh Final for the Rotary Youth Speaks was held on 15 February and the standard was incredibly high in this debating competition. St Joseph’s intermediate team were runners up and Jo Wakeman, Year 9 won the best opposer. In the senior year competition, Pheobe Lonegan, Year 13 of Llanwern High, won the best proposed. This was a Wales wide competition, and students of Newport were doing incredibly well. The Leader passed on her congratulations and thanked the teachers who enabling this to happen.
Tredegar Park
Plans to improve Tredegar Park have taken a major step forward with a proposal to buy the freehold of the park land from its owner.
Currently, the Council leases the land for the purposes of providing playing fields and a recreation area for the city. However, the lease comes with a number of restrictive conditions attached. Purchasing the freehold will give the council greater autonomy in developing the park in line with the wishes of Newport residents.
Last summer, extensive consultation with residents was carried out to find out what improvements they would like us to make to the leisure offer in the park.
Response to the survey was good, with just under 850 responses received. They reflected a strong community interest in enhancing the park’s recreational offer. Further information regarding this is on the Newport City Council website. This was a great opportunity, and the purchase of this land protected the site in perpetuity for the citizens of Newport.
Capital funding for the project will come from Newport’s allocation of the UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, under the ‘communities and place’ priority. The Council is looking at how it can deliver the priorities identified in the consultation as part of the overall package of investment into the park, as well as the revenue costs associated with operating and maintaining these elements over the long term.
Tree planting
The Leader made reference to the challenge that we have faced due to ash dieback disease which is predicted to infect almost 80 per cent of ash trees in the UK.
Following a survey, trees along 4km of Bulmore Road had to be removed, along with other trees that would be weakened as a result of the work. All the dangerous trees have now been removed and we thank residents for their patience while this work was carried out.
The Leader said that she is pleased to be working with veteran’s charity Green Task Force Cymru to carry out replanting along the road. While the road does look a bit bare, some trees – including hazel and hawthorn – will regrow from the coppice stumps that were left and should look very different in the spring and summer.
Questions to the Leader
Councillor M Evans:
The Welsh Transport Minister Lee Waters said in a written statement on 20 February that there appeared to be some inconsistencies in the way highway authorities have applied the guidance to make exceptions and change the speed limit on some roads from the default 20mph back to 30mph. Yet the Council said that it consistently applied WG Guidance, they cannot both be right. Lee Waters said that residents should contact their council to tell them if they think roads should return to 30mph. Now that this revised guidance was received, would the Leader taking into account the views of residents to get main roads back to 30mph, and if so, how would this be done.
Response:
The policy referred to was widely debated across the UK and caught the attention of the media and continued to be debated.
The Minister gathered evidence to support his policy and better understood the impact of this. Evidence showed that drivers were driving more slowly, and this would lead to a reduction in road traffic collisions and fatalities. In terms of the impact of the policy itself, there was a growing evidence base which was starting to demonstrate the impact of this.
Regarding the application of the implementation of this, the Leader suggested that Councillor Evans might recall when he asked this previously at Council that although it was mis-reported in the press, the video of the recording of the meeting and the minutes showed that the Leader clearly stated that it said it would be reviewed as a city council and in line with the growing evidence base and this would also be the evidence base collected at local level. The Leader received quite a few queries from members of the public, some expressing concerns, some not happy but others welcomed the policy. Guidance would be considered by Welsh Government, and it was helpful to have this further guidance.
The Council met regularly with the Minister and Deputy Minister and would be happy to listen to what they said about guidance. It was important also to listen to residents. We gave a commitment to continue to review the implementation of this and it would be reviewed going forward. What was particularly good about this was the improvement of the Council website which would make it easier to engage with residents.
Councillor Morris:
Referred to the state of the city centre and how it affected the residents of Newport. Councillor Morris felt that it was thought of as an embarrassment. With this in mind, could an all-member seminar be arranged that councillors on what was being done in the future and residents could benefit from feedback.
Response:
The city centre has its challenges, but all members voted on the National Non-Domestic Discretionary Rates Relief Scheme to help businesses in Newport. This is a city centre in transition and not in decline. As a local authority, we have a number of regulatory and statutory powers to drive change, but we are limited by financial constraints. The property within the city centre, is not within public domain but privately owned. There are measures in place to address this and incentivise change through grant schemes and loans, and we also have enforcement measures in place.
We have to consider how we can all be brand ambassadors for the city centre and amplify the opportunities for the city and its businesses.
Considerable transitional steps have been made with significant housing increases within the city centre, a mix of tenures comprising privately owned, rented and social housing properties.
We have supported businesses such as Newport Market and the iconic Mercure Hotel. Regeneration does not happen overnight, it takes time, hard work, and effort.
The High Street and market regeneration has been a catalyst for investment in that area and Saturday would see the opening of the Corn Exchange as a community owned venue for the benefit of Newport.
The Leader agreed with Councillor Morris that a strategy was needed. There was a plan for the city centre and the Council had delivered on most of the objectives that were set out in that plan.
The Leader said that she was pleased to report to colleagues that consultation had been secured for a place making plan for the city centre. Consultation will take place for councillors and residents. The development stage of the place making plan is about to launch and will be taking this forward very shortly. Everyone would have an opportunity to respond.
Supplementary:
A follow up question would be put in writing.
Councillor Drewett:
In May 2022 Labour was elected by the citizens of Newport to deliver a manifesto based on community wealth building and social value. Could the Leader provide an update on implementation and share supporting evidence?
Response:
We are committed to community wealth building and this strategic commitment can be found embedded in the Corporate Plan. We are a living wage employer and companies we work with are required to pay the living wage as well. This is done through our procurement, and we ae able to deliver social value to citizens. In a recent meeting, Cabinet considered the Newport Themes and Outcomes report which presented that in the first six months, £1M was secured which benefitted the citizens in Newport. A large proportion of this was made up by employees hired or retained to work on contracts. As an anchor institution, we should all value what is happening for residents.