City neighbourhood chosen for ‘No One Left Behind’ pilot project

Duffryn will be the first area of Newport to benefit from the city council’s new No One Left Behind initiative.

The £500,000 is designed to support areas of the city which may have missed out on other regeneration projects.

The Duffryn estate sits within the Tredegar Park ward area, which the council has chosen as a pilot area for the initiative “to test its success and learn from the process, before moving the fund and approach to other areas”.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday October 15, council leader Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said the new project would empower grassroots groups who “do a tremendous job in difficult times”.

National research has ranked the Tredegar Park ward as the third-most deprived area of Newport.

Two parts of Pillgwenlly are ranked higher, but the council is already investing in those areas through the Pill Master Plan, launched in 2023.

Regeneration projects there include improving play areas, developing walking and cycling routes, and trialling a “multi-agency hub” in Commercial Road.

Cllr Jason Hughes, the cabinet member for communities, said “well-informed research” helped identify Tredegar Park to pilot the No One Left Behind project.

“We want to ensure that we deliver the right support and services for residents and then we can use that as the model to take into other communities in the city,” he said.

“The next step will be to find out what support is already available in the area and then asking residents what is important to them and what they need so the money can make a real and positive difference to people’s lives.”

The council said community groups and organisations in the area will be able to bid for the fund, to deliver “the support and services that residents feel are missing or need enhancing”.

Cllr Rhian Howells, a cabinet member who also represents the Tredegar Park ward on the city’s outskirts, said the area’s residents would be “absolutely thrilled” to take part in the new initiative, which “is going to make a big difference to Duffryn”.

Cllr Batrouni thanked the Lliswerry ward’s independent councillors for jointly developing the initiative, and said other areas of the city, such as Bettws and Pillgwenlly, “won’t be left behind either”.