New bus station to boost Newport regeneration

A new bus station would be built at Market Square behind Newport Indoor Market if the proposals are given the go-ahead

Two new bus stations are being planned for Newport to try to boost the number of shoppers using the city centre.

The current 26-stand bus station - deemed "unattractive" by passengers - will be demolished to make way for the planned Friars Walk shopping centre.

Newport council intends to re-site 15 stands at the new shopping development, while building a new nine-stand station near the indoor market.

Planners say the overhaul will help with the regeneration of Newport.

Traders in the city raised concerns last year about the number of big-name high street stores that were closing in the city centre, including Next, Topshop and Burton.

There have also been fears that shoppers are heading to bigger cities, like Cardiff and Bristol, along with the nearby Cwmbran retail park.

However, as part of Newport's regeneration plans, it was announced that the rundown John Frost Square was to be revamped as the Friars Walk shopping centre.

The £100m makeover will include shopping, restaurants and a cinema.

The current bus station will be demolished

But it means the current bus station in the city centre will be demolished, with a new 15-stand terminus planned for the new Friars Walk shopping centre.

In a report to the council, planning company Arup said that to meet transport demands and to "cater for a degree of future expansion", a second bus station was also needed.

It said: "It has therefore been decided that an area of land (Market Square) located to the rear of Newport Indoor Market is the ideal location to site this new bus station, as it is very close to the new Friars Walk development and is also centrally located for the rest of the city centre shops and services."

The proposed Market Square bus station would be built on the site of five existing bus shelters.

If approved and once built, signs would link it to the proposed Friars Walk bus station.

The report said that the bus stations did not need to be sited next to Newport railway station as only a "small percentage arrive by bus" to catch a train.

"The main requirement is, therefore, deemed to be bus to bus movement rather than bus to rail," it added.

Planners say the current bus terminus is deemed as unattractive and a barrier to attracting more bus users.

A survey of Newport Bus customers in 2009 found only 1% of 337 responses were very satisfied with the bus station, while 33% were very dissatisfied.

Graham Morgan, director of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, said it was important to invest in the transport infrastructure of Newport if it was to attract more shoppers.

He said that the regeneration, along with a new Newport University campus and offices in the city centre, "will add to what Newport has to offer".

"And the infrastructure is important to that," he added.

"It all adds up to be a stepping stone to rebuilding something in Newport that will start to draw in a crowd."

The proposals will be considered by Newport council's planning committee in the coming weeks.