Fire at council-owned retail park reignites scrutiny of £21m investment

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

A major fire at a south Wales retail park was on land owned by a county council which purchased the site in a controversial deal. 

Fire crews battled for nearly four hours to extinguish the blaze that stared at an electrical substation at the Newport Leisure Park and which spread to the external wall of the nearby Home Bargains store on Tuesday evening, December 2.  The shop was open as usual on Wednesday.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated but the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, which was called to the retail park at 6.35pm, said it involved a substation and rubbish. 

Monmouthshire County Council has confirmed the fire was on land which it owns and a tenant had been impacted.  

A council spokesman said: “The fire occurred on land within the title of Monmouthshire County Council.  

“South Wales Fire and Rescue Service responded that evening, and National Grid have reinstated power to all units on site. We continue to work closely with our tenant and insurers to undertake any necessary repair works.” 

Monmouthshire County Council took on a £21 million debt, in 2019, to purchase the Newport Leisure Park at Spytty with the intention revenue would provide it with an additional income stream to support services. 

The deal has been contentious due to the amount of debt the council took on to become the landlord of a cinema, restaurants and other retail units – but also because the site at Spytty isn’t even in Monmouthshire, but within the boundaries of neighbouring Newport City Council. 

The pandemic struck a further blow to the council as a number of businesses at the site closed hitting its expected income levels which have failed to meet the two per cent return on investment predicted when the then Conservative controlled council approved the purchase. 

The 11 units have however delivered slightly more than £1m in revenue to the council most years but that is offset by annual repayments of more than £900,000. 

Latest figures show the leisure park is still producing a surplus for the council but the amount remains below target.  

A November financial report stated during the current financial year the park has generated a surplus income of £276,000 for the council which is £44,000 below target due to unbudgeted utility costs related to a vacant unit.