NEWPORT council insists the city centre can be revitalised despite having the highest number of empty shops in Wales.

The authority says figures published by the Local Data Company (LDC) showing 28.8 percent of shops in Newport were vacant, were not a true reflection of the situation because it included a number of properties in John Frost Square which were purchased by the council to make way for the new Friars Walk shopping centre scheme.

In addition a council survey looking at all 4,008 units in the city centre including those in John Frost Square, showed the number of vacant shops has fallen in the past 18 months.

Of all the shops in the city centre, 114 or 28 per cent were vacant in 2009, compared with 101 (25 per cent) in February 2010, 94 (23 per cent) in November 2010, and 77 (19 per cent) in a count completed yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the council said the city centre had suffered because of the economic downturn but the authority believed the multi-million project, and others in the pipeline would revitalise it.

She said the council was committed to providing support to traders and had a number of initiatives such as free car parking in council owned car parks had been introduced to attract more shoppers.

But traders think more could still be done.

Sue Williams, who has run hairdressers Elbow Rooms for the past 31 years, said: “I think they (the council) are doing too little too late.

“It’s so depressing for us, nothing seems to be happening. They have got to do something now.”

Chris Taylor, who runs grocers Shotts in Newport Market, agreed and said initiatives like free parking would have helped if they had been introduced earlier.

He said: “It’s great that the council are doing something but I think they have left it too late.”

The council is moving forward with plans for the Friars Walk scheme and expects to have a developer on board by July. Plans to develop the disused Cambrian Centre into a retail centre and offices are also under way.

Top ten highest shop vacancy figures in Wales

  1. Newport 28.8 per cent
  2. Rhyl 19.1 per cent
  3. Bridgend 18.8 per cent
  4. Caernarfon 18.7 per cent
  5. Bangor 18.6 per cent
  6. Colwyn Bay 17.7 per cent
  7. Llanelli 16.3 per cent
  8. Cardiff 15.7 per cent
  9. Wrexham 14.9 per cent

Figures provided by the Local Data Company

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Faith in our city

WE agree with Newport councillors when they say that the city centre can still be revitalised.

According to the Local Data Company (LDC) nearly 30 per cent of shops in Newport are vacant.

That included a number of properties in John Frost Square which were purchased by the council to make way for the new Friars Walk shopping centre scheme.

A more up-to-date council survey shows the number of vacant shops has actually fallen in the last 18 months.

The one thing that nobody could foresee was the recession that hit Newport harder than most cities as it was undergoing a transformation that would have made it an excellent shopping centre.

Now we are in recovery and a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to try to put the revitalisation of the city centre back on track.

We believe the empty shops will be vacant temporarily and cannot agree with the doom-mongers that this our city centre has no future.

We believe Newport can and will be a vibrant city centre.