RESIDENTS of Coedkernew and Duffryn clashed with councillors and council officers again last night in another heated meeting over Gipsy sites.

Newport council planning officers held a public meeting in the council chamber to discuss the revised local development plan, which includes three proposed sites for Gipsies and Travellers.

Residents expressed concerns over the placing of the proposed Celtic Way transit site near businesses and a thriving residential area.

The often heated meeting was held after one for the same area last week was filled to capacity.

Around 100 people attended at the Civic Centre last night.

Several people at the meeting said the site was not wanted in the area.

Tory Councillor Richard White, of Marshfield, who chaired the meeting, said he wasn't sure placing the area in a “prestigious industrial estate” was the right thing to do and said it was owned by the Welsh Government.

However he expressed concerns about illegal encampments in his ward area, which was met with a heckle: “You are speaking a lot of twaddle.”

One audience member asked if compensation would be offered to homeowners: “People are going to be afraid to go out.”

A man won applause by saying people will be told not to vote for councillors if they back the Gipsy site in future.

He said thousands should not be spent on a gipsy site for people passing through Newport when hospitals are "falling apart at their seams".

It was explained to people at the meeting that the authority had an obligation to meet Gipsy site needs, and the consultation process for the local development plan was explained.

Residents were told by Mark Hand, council head of planning, that transit sites would allow unauthorised encampments to be managed.

One person asked given units around Celtic Way are empty: “How are you going to attract more businesses when there's a transit site across the road?”

The nearby Celtic Horizons residential development is “on the up and up”, a resident said. “Please don't change it.”

Another audience member proposed that a way could be found for a site on the A449 rejected because of highways issues to be used.

Marshfield Tory Cllr Tom Suller, a member of the committee that proposed the site list, said that could be the way forward to keep it out of Marshfield.

A police officer and a community support officer attended the meeting but did not intervene in proceedings as the Argus went to press.