THE people of Newport had the chance yesterday to present their ideas for the future direction of the city.

In an event organised by Re:Newport, the Welsh Government-backed taskforce charged with finding ways of regenerating the city centre, people presented their ideas to a Dragons' Den-style panel of Re:Newport members.

And plenty of good ideas there were too.

Many people lobbied for Newport to make more of its maritime past. The prospect of a barrage of some kind was back on the agenda, along with proposals as varied as installing glass elevators on the Transporter Bridge and staging ghost tours at Tredegar House.

Making the city a digital hub was high on the wish list of several presenters.

We should make clear our opposition to one idea - giving Newport a new identity by changing its name.

That is a non-starter in our opinion and, if it were to become a formal proposal, this newspaper would campaign long and hard against it.

We want to see a restoration of pride in Newport, not some kind of corporate rebrand to make the place easier to find on Google.

In general, yesterday was a good start to re:Newport's mission.

The hard work is still to come - and that will be finding ways to finance the best ideas.

Regeneration does not come cheap and there is no indication yet as to where the money will come from to turn great ideas into long-term reality.