NEWPORT council's Cabinet is considering a £755,000 refurbishment programme for the Civic Centre after agreeing in principle to pay £1 million for new town centre paving.

Cabinet members decided yesterday they needed a site visit to the Civic Centre's west wing and that they would only agree "in principle" to the paving scheme until their next meeting.

Greg Ashurst, head of law and standards at the council, told the meeting that the west wing had needed work done for some time because it was "so poor".

Alterations to the former crown court, which is mainly just used for the storage of furniture, would provide:

* a civic assembly hall * an additional meeting room * a reception area * enhanced catering facilities * a passenger/service lift * access for the disabled to the assembly hall from Clytha Park Road.

Mr Ashurst said that no specific maintenance work had been carried out on the west wing - apart from urgent roof repairs - since the crown court service and police moved out. He added that in view of the need for a complete refurbishment, it was a good opportunity to create purpose-designed facilities.

Mr Ashurst said 400 people would be able to fit into the proposed assembly hall for formal council functions.

"There is currently nowhere, as a council, we can address large amounts of people. The biggest room we have is the council chamber itself," he said.

There would also be a chance to generate some income for the council by registering the area for marriages to be held there and hiring out the facilities for non-civic functions. If the scheme is accepted, the projected completion date for the refurbishment is May 1, 2002.

The Cabinet was also given three options for upgrading the paving in the town centre in Commercial Street and surrounding area including Westgate Square.

They agreed in "in principle" to a £1 million scheme, subject to receiving further details of the proposed scheme at their next meeting.

Members asked that the highways department consider using paving that would withstand the weight of delivery lorries and not "date", and keeping the York stone paving at Westgate Square.

The council currently spends £75,000 a year maintaining the 25-year-old paving stones in the centre. Council leader Sir Harry Jones (pictured) raised his concerns about the proposed new paving schemes.

Twenty-five years ago, York stone was laid by the then council in the area - and Sir Harry has asked that York stone remains in the Westgate Square area. He added: "As far as I was concerned, the York stone was permanent. There is no reason to take that away if it matches the statues (in the area)."