Newport can emulate Manchester’s revival, says Andy Burnham

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

Newport can rejuvenate its high street and kickstart a new era of prosperity by learning from Greater Manchester, according to the northern city’s mayor, Andy Burnham.

Speaking to Newport’s council leader at Rodney Parade, Mr Burnham said building more homes in the city centre was key to attracting new businesses and prosperity.

He suggested Newport could learn from Stockport, where the mayor’s office has established a £2 billion regeneration project that will include thousands of new homes.

“The retail footprint of these places will not be as big in the future as it was in the past… or indeed the employment footprint in the heart of the place may not be as big”, said Mr Burnham, who added “some people don’t like that idea”.

“People say ‘it’ll make us a dormitory town’ – well we’ve got to move beyond that language, because if you build modern living accommodation in the heart of towns, or the city of Newport, you bring a new generation to live in the centre,” he explained.

“That makes it a 24/7 economy rather than [one where] everything closes at 5pm.

“New life, new places spring up, energy comes through – that’s absolutely what’s happening in Stockport right now, and I can see all of the same happening in Newport.”

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, who leads Newport City Council, said his administration had “a lot of ambition” for the city centre but faced “naysayers” and “a lot of people say they don’t want change or they don’t accept change”.

“I don’t say those people are wrong necessarily, because they will remember a place that was bustling, that just felt alive, and they want that back,” said Mr Burnham.

“Those people who may say some of those things also will say in the next breath ‘look at the high street, all these empty shops.’”

He added: “The only way I think now to change that is to turn some of the redundant retail into residential. Bring people to live in the place, and that will change the feel. You’ll get cafes opening, bars, restaurants, cultural activity taking place. That’s how you bring life back.”

Mr Burnham said he believed Newport has potential and is in a “great” location, and noted the arrival of firms in the semiconductor industry.

“The next phase is to remodel the city to complete the picture,” he said. “If you are to build out that industrial base that is clustering around you here, it is attracting talent, the twenty somethings, thirty somethings who then see Newport as the new Bristol or Manchester – [and] I don’t mean that in a negative way.”

Potential 

Following the interview with Mr Burnham, Cllr Batrouni said: “It was a pleasure to talk to Andy about Newport, regeneration, sport and inequality.

“As the current mayor of Greater Manchester, he has led the way in starting to regenerate that region, making it one of the fastest economic growth areas in the UK.

“I truly believe Newport has that potential and so having a chance to tap into that experience was invaluable. He believes in our potential and agrees with me that it’s time to fulfil it.”

The interview was conducted before a UK parliamentary by-election was called in the Greater Manchester seat of Makerfield.

Mr Burnham is the Labour candidate there, and if he wins on June 18 he has already said he would “seek to join” any UK Labour leadership race, if one is triggered.

Leadership challenge

Cllr Batrouni said he was “absolutely” backing Mr Burnham in the by-election but was reluctant to comment on any hypothetical challenge to Sir Keir Starmer.

He said he would “consider” supporting Mr Burnham if a leadership challenge was launched, but “that is the domain of the MPs and I try to avoid speculation about these things because I’d rather focus on delivering for Newport”.