UP TO 300 waterfront apartments and houses could be built in Newport in a major boost for the new city.

Bellway Homes says it wants to build a large waterfront community of 300 apartments and town houses between George Street Bridge and the Town Bridge in a £40 million scheme.

The company said the scheme, on the Rodney Parade side of the River Usk, would also create hundreds of construction and associated jobs.

The development is one of two planned by the company to develop waterfront communities. The other is in Cardiff Bay. Together the projects amount to a massive £120 million investment.

Mike Joyce, managing director of Bellway Wales Division, said the schemes represented a "massive show of confidence" in the housing market in Wales.

He said: "The scheme in Newport is being put together by Bellway in conjunction with both the Welsh Development Agency and Newport council and promises to create a dramatic new waterfront community.

"It could be worth up to £40 million and is a fitting project for a town that is celebrating city status."

It is believed negotiations for the project are at an advanced stage and plans could be submitted to planners within the next three months. Building work could begin in 2003.

A spokesman for Bellway Homes said: "We are looking to regenerate the area and feel a small development would not achieve that. It has to be a comprehensive development. "We have been working on this for two years and we have invested a lot of money already in the project to bring it forward. We want this to happen."

John Jenkins, cabinet member for development and environment in Newport, said a stage had been reached where a scheme appeared to be a "workable proposition" and the council looks forward to the submission of a planning application by Bellway.

Mr Jenkins said: "The council will want to consult closely with local residents before the scheme is finalised, but in principle it looks as if it will be possible to achieve a transformation of this bank of the river, giving a riverside walkway, upgraded open space provision and improved flood defences as part of a first class development