An undisclosed amount of council money is being put into rebranding Newport, in a bid to change the perception of the town.
Newport and Carisbrooke Parish Council has allocated £20,000 to the Shaping Newport project, however, the Isle of Wight Council would not disclose the full amount it would be spending on the scheme.
Shaping Newport
Shaping Newport, a project run by the Isle of Wight regeneration team, is looking to reinvent the perception of the county town, and is being run in partnership with Newport and Carisbrooke Parish Council and Newport Business Association.
In addition to physical changes around the town, the team will hang banners on lampposts with the slogan ‘Newport, the place for: shopping / culture / socialising’.
Regeneration programme manager
Claire Kennard has taken on the role of Newport town centre and area regeneration programme manager. She will oversee the changes to the town — which could include £300,000 worth of changes to the traffic system.
Changes to the traffic system could also see wider pavements, to make it easier for mobility scooters.
She said:
“We want to make Newport a much nicer place for pedestrians and for cyclists.
“Newport is a town that has a lot of natural assets and the project aims to use social media, forum events and place branding to raise awareness of them.
“For example, we have some beautiful historic buildings set within an intact mediaeval street layout, there are 350 listed monuments and buildings within a conservation area.”
The team is hoping to hold a number of events over the year to promote the town.
Jones-Evans: Bloom and Grow
Cllr Julie Jones-Evans said Shaping Newport had applied for a £25,000 from the People’s Postcode Lottery to fund its project ‘Bloom and Grow’.
As part of the project, pop-up gardens could appear around the town. The project was started in a bid to make gardening more accessible.
Cllr Jones-Evans said:
“We are interested in looking at sustainable plants, and fruits.”
Concerns have been raised about the number of closed shops in Newport, however, Ms Kennard said:
“We have one of the lowest rates of closed shops, at 11 per cent — some places on the mainland have 60 per cent of their shops closed, with town centres boarded up.
“We also have some great local business and independent shops running in Newport.”
Thriving businesses
She praised local businesses, such as Cafe Isola, which she said had ‘continued to thrive’ on the Isle of Wight.
The team can be found at 30 High Street, Newport, which is a consultation space for public, businesses and organisations to visit and find out more about the plans.
Image: © Shaping Newport
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations by OnTheWight. Ed
