NEWPORT City Council predicts it could have £3.5 million in its reserves pot before the end of the financial year - and local traders have given their thoughts on how the money could be spent.

Newport City Council's most recent revenue budget report shows the authority predicts it is due to end the current financial year with an underspend of £3.5 million.

So, we asked five local business owners how they would spend this money to improve the city centre.

They were like-minded in their thinking, all claiming free parking would be their priority.

They want to see free parking in the city centre so paying customers come to Newport and spend their hard-earned money here, instead of Cwmbran or Cardiff.

Tracey Stokes, owner of Belle Femme in Llanarth Street, stresses the importance of free parking to her local business. She said: “If there were parking, town wouldn’t be so empty five weeks before Christmas”.

Susan Priest of Assets Jewellery Ltd agreed, going on to suggest that businesses in town would improve if customers had free parking.

South Wales Argus:

Joy, an employee at YZ Aesthetics, didn't have much good to say about the parking situation either. “I pay £7.50 each week day each time I work," she said. "I have to park at Kingsway Centre to walk down”.

The owner of The Rebel, a clothing retailer on Commercial Street, said the town centre "needs serious improvement", pointing to the number of empty shop units.

South Wales Argus:

Claire, manager at the Sense charity shop in Commercial Street, said that the council’s focus should be on revamping the doorways of the empty shopping units.

“I went to Ross-on-Wye recently and you couldn’t see any of the empty doorways of the shops," she said. "What they’d done is they had got local artists to board the doorways and paint them to draw customers in and make town centre seem inviting."

South Wales Argus:

A spokesperson for Newport City Council said: "While an overall underspend is currently being projected, it is important to note that the position could deteriorate over the rest of the year due to risks such as increased demand for children’s or housing services.

"It is important the council is prudent with its spending particularly in light of the financial challenges facing the public sector".

Kevin Ward, manager of Newport Now’s Business Improvement District (BID), said that “footfall in the city centre since April has been above 2019 levels, one of the few places in Wales and the UK to see figures exceeding pre-Covid levels”.