Newport old Town Dock regeneration to be completed

An artist's impression of the Newport docklands redevelopment

The last remaining stretch of Newport's old Town Dock is set to be edeveloped in the latest stage of the city's multimillion-pound regeneration.

The dock was built in 1842 and handled coal from the Brecon and Monmouthshire Canal, shipping it around the world.

More than £200m has been spent on the 45 acre (18 hectare) site near the city centre over the past eight years.

Another £600,000 will be spent on landscaping and infrastructure on the last 10 acre (4 hectare) strip by June.

The city's regeneration company Newport Unlimited says it has already had expressions of interest from developers.

Hamish Munro, head of regeneration at Newport Unlimited, said: "This is a prime piece of development land, located on the regenerated riverfront area and in the southern sector of the city centre.

"We're keen to make the land as attractive to developers as possible, which is why we are investing in these infrastructure works, so that development can pretty much start as soon as contracts are exchanged.

"We've talked to a number of potential developers and a good level of interest has been expressed in the site.

The old dock's fortunes declined after the opening of the larger Alexandra Dock

"The fact that the nearby Friar's Walk retail scheme was recently granted planning consent has added further strength to the potential of the site, and once the work has been completed, I'm sure we will receive strong interest."

Busiest port

The old Town Dock is an area of Newport stretching from the Southern Distributor Road in the south to George Street in the north, currently owned by Newport Unlimited and Newport City Council in a joint venture.

It shipped coal around the world in a period when Newport's docks were doing more trade than any other port in the UK.

Its lock was claimed to be the largest in the world at the time.

After the larger Alexandra Dock opened in 1876 in response to a growth in demand, the Town Dock's fortunes declined, and in 1930 it was filled in.

Its reclamation was one of the first regeneration projects undertaken by Newport Unlimited in 2004.

The old dockland site is now to be redeveloped

It is now home to residential developments and a riverside park.

Newport Unlimited says it hopes that by 2020 its regeneration programme across the city will have created 12,000 new jobs, generated £800m of private investment, 3,000 new homes and 1m sq ft of new office floor space.