New councillor hails ‘incredible’ Tory win and pledges to fight car park charges

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The newest city councillor in Newport has hailed his party’s success in Rogerstone as “incredible” and said he would contest a local car park’s charges as a priority issue.

Nick Baneswell’s win made sure the Welsh Conservatives held on to the vacant Rogerstone North seat in last week’s by-election.

Following his victory, Cllr Baneswell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service residents are “tired of seeing rising council tax, roads falling apart, fly tipping being ignored and a city centre that continues to decline, while local people are asked to pay more and get less in return”.

“I am hugely honoured that residents have placed their trust in me,” he added. “As someone who owns a local pub and speaks to local people every day, I am not a career politician and come into this from real conversations with people in the area.

“One of the first things I will now be doing is launching a petition against Labour’s paid parking charges at Fourteen Locks.”

The canal centre at Fourteen Locks, in Rogerstone, currently charges visitors £1 for up to four hours’ parking, £2.50 for up to five hours, and £3 for longer.

The Conservatives held off challenges from five other parties during the by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of their councillor Chris Reeks in March.

Up to that point, Cllr Reeks had been the only representative of Rogerstone North after the ward’s creation in 2022.

Cllr Baneswell won the seat with 597 votes, ahead of the nearest challenger Kevin Preston from Reform UK Wales, who picked up 402 votes.

Also in contention were Plaid Cymru’s Iestyn Davies (287 votes), Welsh Labour’s Jonathan Gibbons (204), the Wales Green Party’s Stewart Jones (108), and the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ John Miller (57).

The turnout for the by-election was 69.7%.