FIFTY areas in Newport were deemed suitable for a Gipsy and traveller site, despite only five being put forward for development as potential camps, the Argus can reveal.

Of the 224 sites looked at by the council, 165 were dismissed because they were considered unsuitable under the Welsh Government’s criteria for reasons including poor access, ground not level, highway issues and flooding.

A list obtained by the Argus shows areas considered suitable include allotments in Bettws, Coed Melyn, Maesglas Grove, and Radnor Road and playing fields in Bettws, Cefn Wood and Ringland.

Bettws Rugby Ground, Ringland’s former road safety centre and former working men’s club, Olivers Garden Centre, Langstone, and St Julians Social Club were also selected as appropriate sites.

Of all the sites, 202 are in council ownership, 19 are privately owned and three belong to the Welsh Government.

The council is in the process of identifying suitable residential and transit sites to meet the housing needs of Gipsies and travellers in Newport ahead of publishing its local development plan.

None of the five preferred sites is owned by the council.

Acouncil spokesman said: “The final shortlist of five proposed locations for a potential gipsy and traveller site represents those which best met the criteria laid out by the Welsh Government.

Opposition to the proposals is mounting across the city.

Newport_sites.pdf">See a full list of the sites

EDITORIAL COMMENT: An interesting list

THE list of 50 parcels of land in and around Newport deemed suitable for Gipsy and traveller sites is an intriguing one.

Now whittled down to a shortlist of five, it is is interesting to see those areas which the council initially considered as potential sites.

The five currently under consideration are Yew Tree Cottage, Bettws; two parcels of land at Pye Corner, Nash; Pound Hill, Marshfield, and an area of land at Nash Mead, Queensway Meadows.

But the list of land also considered is diverse, if not surprising. From allotments to playing fields, a former garden centre, social club, and hotel site, what is apparent is that no matter which land was selected the choice would be controversial.

Equally it is no wonder that residents of Bettws, or any of the other areas selected for that matter, are going to be asking why their area was chosen above the others.