NEWPORT council should investigate the potential of an airport for the city, a councillor has urged.

"It has now become obvious that an airport could become part and parcel of our way of life here.

"It's going to employ a lot of people," said Conservative Leslie Knight. "I think the development section of this council ought to seriously look into the possibility of what an airport would bring."

Severnside Internat-ional Airport announced its intention to press ahead with its proposals for an airport at Llan-wern earlier this month.

And Corus is selling 600 acres of land at Llanwern. In August, a consortium revealed plans for a £750 million redevelopment of the site to create factories, homes, a school and sports facilities.

Councillor Knight was speaking at a meeting of the planning committee who were discussing Newport's unitary development plan.

Amendments have been made to the document in light of a growth strategy in a regeneration programme prepared in response to the closure of the Corus steelworks.

Stewart Wild, head of planning and economic regeneration, said: "Newport ought to serve as a growth centre for the Greater Gwent area and these findings have some implications in what type and scale of development we might be looking at for the city in the next couple of years."

Last month the cabinet agreed to consult widely on the options which include the redevelopment of the steelworks site.

Councillor Erryl Heath said: "Anything that brings employment to the city makes sense and it makes sense to go to the east of Newport now that part of the steelworks has closed.

"An airport would bring employment and would be an ideal opportunity for the city. "My fear is that so many houses are being built that we are going to be the living area for people who commute to Cardiff and Bristol to work.

"I don't want that to happen. "I want employment in Newport for its citizens."

The planning committee agreed to hold a special meeting to enable them to give their response to the document.