Green light for city shopping centre to offer wider range of uses

More of the Kingsway Centre in Newport could be diversified under plans to “restore and revitalise” it.

The centre was previously restricted to retail, leisure and hospitality activities – but Newport City Council has now approved a wider range of uses within the shopping centre.

Extra planning permissions have been granted to the whole centre, following an initial approval of wider uses on the lower ground floor.

It is hoped that broadening the use of the whole centre will create more jobs and provide more community services, as well as “re-establishing the Kingsway as a central hub of activity” in the city.

A planning statement, by agents at Sustainable Studio Architects, adds the move by the Kingsway’s owners The Boyce Group, “seeks to restore and revitalise the centre’s purpose”.

In a report on the new proposals, council planning officers judged the centre’s owners were seeking “additional flexibility” for the Kingsway.

They said those new uses were “appropriate” and would “contribute to its vitality and viability by expanding the offering from solely retail”.

“The expanded uses would allow for business opportunities within the centre as well as new community facilities,” the planners added. “Several of the units within the site are currently vacant and the proposal would assist in encouraging their further development and re-use.”

The council also received two letters of support during a recent public consultation on the proposals.

One, from someone setting up a small business in Newport, said the changes proposed at the Kingsway are “a breath of fresh air”.

“It’s been tough seeing the city centre go quiet over the years, but this feels like a real step in the right direction,” they added. “An opportunity to raise footfall with new attractions, furthered by the opportunity to create more employment for the city of Newport.”

Another said Newport “needs fantastic revitalisation projects”, adding they believed the Kingsway proposals would “only help in [bringing] people back into the city centre”.

The council granted permission for extra planning uses, meaning the Kingsway can now offer shops, food and drink businesses, offices, institutions such as nurseries or training centres, leisure venues including cinemas or gyms, and services from estate agents to banks.