AMBITIOUS plans to create 1,700 homes and potentially hundreds of job opportunities on land east of Newport are being drawn up by urban regeneration experts.

The villages of Llanwern and Underwood, and pockets of existing homes north of the de-commissioned Corus site could be expanded with housing, while parts of the now-disused sector of the steelworks site may also host residential development.

New shops and other amenities are being proposed, along with a major new park, while a computerised, 'guided' bus system could provide speedy links to the centre and west of the city.

There is also the possibility of turning the road running through the steelworks into a public highway linking the Southern Distributor Road (SDR) to Magor and the M4.

The blueprint has been compiled by town planning and urban design experts David Lock Associates for Newport Unlimited, the urban regeneration company formed to breathe new life into a city hit by the closure of a major part of the Corus works.

Newport residents have recently had the chance to comment on the company's plans to re-invent the city centre and riverside, and the plans for the east of Newport will be aired in public in the spring.

Expansion plans for the east of the city focus on an area of around 1,800 acres which is split into two distinct sections north and south of the main South Wales-London railway line.

The northern section comprises the village of Llan-wern and other small pockets of development, features such as Llanwern park and golf course, and areas of open countryside. It is bounded to the north by the M4, the west by the SDR, and the east by Llanwern Park and Longditch Wood.

Though the village of Underwood is just outside the proposed expansion area, it might be extended on the other side of the Monk's Ditch stream, with the possibility of a road linking up with Langstone Lane.

The southern section is mainly taken up by the decommissioned part of the Corus works and other land to the south and west.

"These areas have very different characters and a tre-mendous amount of work has been done to try to balance the need for residential and other expansion with the need to protect or enhance the environment," said David Ward, Newport Unlimited's director of planning and strategy.

"We've done a lot of consultation with landowners and stakeholders and when the proposals are complete we are looking at a much wider public consultation, perhaps starting next month."