Rodney Parade redevelopment discussed by Dragons and council

Regeneration of the nine-acre site – especially the area to the north of the stadium known as the ‘cabbage patch’ – has long been mooted but nothing has happened.

That is set to change to the Dragons pushing ahead with plans, with a potential partnership with the council to boost leisure facilities in the city giving the project a shot in the arm.

The Rodney Parade club are now privately owned after David Buttress, David Wright and Hoyoung Huh completed a takeover from the Welsh Rugby Union last September that included the entire site.

The trio are keen to develop the land to generate revenue to put back into the team at the Dragons, who once again finished as Wales’ bottom team last season.

The Rodney Parade site, with the 'cabbage patch' to the left

“One of the first priorities that I was told to focus on by the owners was addressing the space [on the northern part of the site] and how we can maximise it,” said chief executive Rhys Blumberg, who recently joined from Cardiff Rugby.

“We have been approached by Newport Council to propose what we want to do with the ground.

"It needs to be slightly moulded to fit an agenda for them to achieve their objectives as well in terms of leisure facilities.

“If it all works out, then we are looking at a partnership or joint venture to develop the ground ASAP.

“I have a meeting on Monday morning where I will present some ideas that we have come up with but there are three key things.

“We need to have leisure facilities here if we are to get funding, whether that is an indoor barn with 4G, padel courts, whatever else ticks boxes for the council that Newport doesn’t have at the moment.

“Secondly, we need to retain enough space so that we can host sizeable events next summer.

“Thirdly, we have obligations with TV compounds [behind the North Terrace] that we have to keep space for and that is part of our planning.

“Phase one is to go to the council with ideas and establish what they want us to put on here and I will find out whether they have a tight focus on what they want.

“Then we have to implement that with the council in terms of funding and developing.”

The Dragons previously held concerts on the cabbage patch for the likes of Billy Ocean and the Stereo MCs, while they have housed fan zones for sporting events and the popular fireworks display returned last November.

“We need to increase our revenue commercially and we can do that significantly by leveraging this site better,” said Blumberg.

“We have a massive site and we don’t use the space as well as we should. We can have events to generate big revenue for the club, which we are looking to do next year.”