Housebuilder wins approval to build 122 apartments, cafe and shop

PERMISSION has been granted permission by Newport Council for 122 apartments, a cafe and a shop to be built next to the River Usk.

The development, located next to University of South Wales student accommodation off Usk Way, has been submitted by LRM Planning on behalf of Jehu Group.

The land has been undeveloped for many years and currently serves as a 258-space pay-anddisplay car park.

The site on Usk Way was formerly a car scrapyard, and was converted into a car park in 2010.

There will be 82 “affordable” homes across five to seven storeys, with 10 three-bedroom maisonettes, 37 two-bedroom flats and 34 one-bedroom flats. Forty of the homes will be sold on the open market – 35 two-bedroom flats and five one-bedroom flats.

The development must now begin within five years.

The site legally requires 61 residential parking spaces, and will comprise 66 spaces and one commercial space.

There is also a requirement to provide electric vehicle charging points to 10% of the spaces.

A flood consequences assessment concluded that the site is at “very low risk of flooding”.

The development will be another step in the transformation of the area.

Plans for a £20m new leisure centre at Usk Way to replace Newport Centre were given the green light last month.

Newport council has also approved plans to replace the Newport Centre site with a new £90m Coleg Gwent campus.

Speaking last month on the area’s transformation, Newport’s council leader Jane Mudd said: “A positive outcome of the pandemic is that we’re really focused on wellbeing now.

“To have that there means for our citizens living in some of our most disadvantaged communities that is in walking distance.

“Evidence tells us there is a demand across the region for office space.

“But when people use that they will be looking to stay in that environment for longer and they’ll be looking for an experience there as well.

“There is an opportunity to make our city a healthier place while attracting major international businesses on to our commercial and industrial areas to provide jobs.

“We are facing changes in our cities on the scale of the Industrial Revolution and we must adapt.”