WITH reference to RK Rogers letter, ‘Museum needed’, South Wales Argus, March 18.

A large retail development is unlikely to attract large numbers shoppers and visitors to our long neglected, and poorly managed, city.

If shoppers and visitors are to be attracted to Newport there must be a wide range of attractions The centre of Newport needs to develop into a safe and pleasant venue for social and cultural activities. A place one can visit, day or evening, without feeling threatened. A place where one could partake in a beverage and/or meal, or some other social activity. Parks and gardens are needed not shops.

A museum which covers Newport and Gwent’s history over the last 3,000 years should be an imperative.

The Romano-British fortress/city at Caerleon was an impressive place.

It had a magnificent tetrapylon (Similar to Paris’s Arc de Triumph) which spanned the vias’ Principalis and Praetoria (the junction of High Street and Broadway).

Caerleon had the only Roman, purpose-built port in the UK (on the River Usk, south of the amphitheatre).

From about 400AD to about 1200AD, Gwent was a Welsh kingdom – Caerleon was its capital – it had its kings and archbishops.

Newport and Gwent has an unique and unparalled history – it deserves a museum of its own.

Brian Hayes Clearwell Court Newport