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Newport will not receive a share of the Welsh Government’s latest town centre regeneration funding, but the city council is “committed” to bringing empty properties back into use, a cabinet member has said.

Labour councillor James Clarke, the cabinet member for regeneration, confirmed the council did not apply for a new round of Transforming Towns funding this month because interested parties were seeking grants, rather than the loans on offer.

The Welsh Government’s scheme is aimed at reducing the number of “vacant and under-utilised” sites and buildings in town centres, and increasing footfall.

Conservative councillor Chris Reeks asked whether Newport had bid for a share of the £10 million available, and which projects the money would be spent on.

But Cllr Clarke said the opportunity was for “loan funding only” and the council had only received requests for grants.

He said the city council “continues to access funding” for its own projects and on behalf of other developments, and “we seek to ensure that developers and property owners are offered the right kind of intervention from the right provider”.

The council’s “commitment” to tackling empty properties had brought “some positive progress”, added Cllr Clarke, who said the former TJ’s club and several other buildings had been “subject to formal action”.

“Importantly, we’ve also seen an increase in footfall in the city centre over the last 12 months, up by 2.6% compared to 2023,” he told Cllr Reeks.

Earlier this month, the local authority said Newport was “bucking the national trend” over the festive period, recording 312,000 visitors to the city centre in December – a more than 2% increase on the same month in 2023.

This was in comparison to British Retail Consortium figures that showed UK footfall had dropped by 2% over the same period, the council added.

Cllr Clarke said that while the council had not applied for Transforming Towns funding in this round, it had received “more than £20 million” from various Welsh Government regeneration schemes since 2018.

“We will continue to support landowners and property owners to access the most suitable forms of funding to deliver positive improvements across the city,” he said.

Newport City Council said that government money had been spent on “major regeneration projects” such as the Market Arcade, central library, and the ongoing construction of the new leisure centre.

Following the meeting, Cllr Reeks said: “I was pleased to hear the cabinet member’s response outlining the ways the council is helping to support businesses.

“We all know the city centre is in need of regeneration, and the Conservatives sit on the cross-party working group that is focusing on ideas and initiatives as part of this.

“As such, it is important for us as the opposition to ensure the council maximises all opportunities for external funding to further aid this progress of regeneration.”