Latest news with #Batrouni
South Wales Argus
a day ago
- Automotive
- South Wales Argus
Newport's £6.6m investment to improve 55 city roads
The council aims to improve the city's road network over the coming year, focusing on the most vital and high-priority roads. These include Malpas Road, Newport Bridge, Lighthouse Road, Chepstow Road, and Caerleon Road. The council secured more than £4.4 million from the Welsh Government through the new highway management local government borrowing initiative. It will also allocate around £2.2 million of its own resources, including £1 million from last year's underspend, to this major road maintenance programme. This investment is in addition to the council's regular yearly budget for road repairs. Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, leader of the council, said: "We promised more investment into our road network, and I'm pleased to say we are delivering on that promise. "Councillors from every ward have been sharing residents' concerns about roads with us. "We've heard those concerns, and we get it. "This funding from Welsh government will allow us to go above and beyond what we would be able to do on our own, tackling more of our highway network's problem areas." The programme will have two elements running concurrently: full resurfacing work on the highest priority roads and surface treatments for high-priority roads to preserve the highway asset. The council proposes to work on 55 sections of road, 36 requiring full resurfacing and 19 needing surface treatments. The council will undertake further detailed design work for the programme to determine a full schedule before work starts later this summer. Residents, businesses, and visitors will be kept informed of the programme's progress through the council's website and social media channels. Acknowledging that the level of investment would not solve all issues, Mr Batrouni added: "At the same time, it is not going to solve every problem and fix every pothole, as we can only do so much with the resources we have. "It is, however, a really good programme of works which I do feel will make a big difference." The council has thanked residents and visitors in advance for their patience and understanding while it carries out these important upgrades. The full list of the roads is: Full treatment A467 - Risca Bypass A468 – Caerphilly boundary to Draethen Junction A468 Bassaleg Roundabout, near A467 A468 Caerphilly Road (part) A48 Usk Way (City Centre) (Part) B4239 Coast Road (Part) B4239 Lighthouse Road (part) B4241 Corporation Road (Cromwell Rd junction area) B4241 Fields Road (Part) B4254 Magor Rd (Part) B4591 Corporation Road (Part) Broadway - Junction with High Street Caerleon Road near St Julians Pub Chapel Road - Junction Great Newra Farm Chepstow Road - Magor Road / Tregarn Road, junction area Clifton Road including Friars Road Junction Cromwell Road (Part) Docks Way - Junction with Greenwich Road Gaer Road (Part) Heidenheim Drive (part) Hendre Farm Drive (part) Highfield Road Junction Road (part) Malpas Road (near the Shell garage) Newport Bridge - Old Green Roundabout to Rodney Road Rivermead (part) Rivermead Way - Junction with Fuchsia Way Rodney Road - near The Pod Somerton Bridge St Mellons Road - Junction Wellfield Road Stow Hill - Cathedral Area Stow Park Circle (Part) The Coldra - Junction with Llanwern Road to no 11 White Brook, Llanvaches - (Part 1) White Brook, Llanvaches - (Part 2) White Brook, Llanvaches - (Part 3) Surface treatment A48 Cardiff Road (entrance Spring Court to Coach & Horses PH) A48 Cardiff Road (junction Pound Hill to entrance Spring Court) A48 Chepstow Road (from junction Bowdens Lane to junction Pen-y-Worlod Road) A48 Chepstow Road (from junction Caerlicken Lane to junction Church Road) A48 Chepstow Road (from junction Catsash Road to junction Langstone Court Road) A48 Chepstow Road (from junction Hendrew Lane to junction Greenmeadow Lane) A48 Chepstow Road (from junction Langstone Park to junction Old Langstone Court Road) A48 Chepstow Road (from junction Pen-y-Worlod Road to junction Old Turnpike Road) A48 Newport Road (junction Channel View to Boundary) A48 Newport Road (southbound from junction Marshfield Road to end of dualling) B4236 New Road (from junction Bulmore Road to junction Lulworth Road) B4237 Cardiff Road (junction Cae Bryntirion Road to Belle Vue interchange) B4596 Caerleon Road (from start of 40mph zone to no.574 Caerleon Road) Goldcliff Road (from junction Goldcliff Common to Chapel Road) Meadows Road (junction Nash Road to Queensway Meadows Roundabout) Mendalgief Road (from junction Price Close to junction Lime Court) North Row (junction Green Street to entrance of North Court Farm) Usk Road, Caerleon (from junction B4236 Mill Street to access Whitehall Farm)
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Newport residents may in future be able to WhatsApp council
That's one of the ambitions set out by council leader Dimitri Batrouni as he seeks to transform the local authority into an organisation fit for the future. 'My ideal is people's engagement with the council is pretty much automated, 24/7. So people can ask something they want to know at any time, and the system gives them the answer. It's all about convenience,' said Cllr Batrouni. The idea is in the early stages but it's something he would like to see tried out before the next council elections in 2028. Cllr Batrouni favours WhatsApp or a similar platform because while not everyone uses the internet, most people are comfortable with messaging. 'We were speaking to a company this morning which was talking about WhatsApp, and I really like that proposal. I want to explore and see if it works, and we might just do a trial, but WhatsApp is just so easy for all generations.' He stressed that human interaction remains important. 'We will always have that face-to-face element, there will always have an ability for someone to speak to human being. But in the future. I don't know if 11.30pm, and you have a panic if it's been day tomorrow, rather than going to go trawling through the website, what I would love you be able to do just WhatsApp the council, the council. You know, within five seconds, 'actually, don't worry, your bin day is Friday'.' Cllr Batrouni was speaking during a wide-ranging interview with the Argus to mark him having been at the helm of the city council for just over a year, having taken over from Jane Mudd after she was elected Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner in 2024. His first year in post was about focusing on fixing the basics, he said, the things that regularly annoyed the people he was talking to. 'I've nearly visited every single school, spoke to every head teacher, visited staff to see frontline issues,' he said. 'I went out on the refuse truck to see what it's like collecting bins. I went on street cleaning. I've gone on grass cutting. I've gone out front line to listen to people who deal with frontline services that residents really, really care about. Newport City Council leader Dimitri Batrouni visits a city school alongside deputy leader Cllr Deb Davies. (Image: Newport City Council) 'I wanted so my first six months was about listening, then I acted. What you saw on the budget is a response to what I've heard. 'We want extra grass cutting because the grass is too long', 'We want more road resurfacing because there was too many potholes', 'We want the street lights back on, because we don't feel safe at night'. 'Those bread-and-butter issues I called it, and that's why I call it the bread-and-butter budget, because that's what it focused on, doing what people were asking us to do. We got on with painting and cleaning the minimum footbridge we've got on with cleaning the clock tower. We listened and then acted.' 'Aldi would be perfect' - Residents speak out over new Aldi store for Newport Tesco Clubcard announces changes for customers with new deals on offer Now, Cllr Batrouni wants to look forward, harnessing technology including artificial intelligence to provide better services. 'There are huge benefits to residents, to taxpayers, by getting this right,' he said, while acknowledging handling of sensitive data needed to be done very carefully. 'If you get it right, you can streamline to make it more convenient for residents, but also a highly efficient organisation.' He added: "When I say efficient, I also mean for staff, not losing staff, but staff being able to concentrate their time on higher added-value stuff, because they're not dealing with operational stuff that systems can do these days. 'Fierce' and 'forthright' councillor becomes city's new mayor 'It won't mean job big job losses. What it does mean, though, is change. We cannot operate as we are. The world's moving so fast in this space.' When asked when residents would see the difference, Cllr Batrouni asked people to be patient for now. 'You have to build the fundamentals first,' he said. 'This is the not exciting bit but you have to integrate and merge your systems. You have to make them be able to speak to each other. You have to ensure the data is clean. You have to get those building blocks absolutely spot on, because only when you have that base, you get all the nice, whizzy stuff that people start to notice.' This is part one of the Argus interview with Cllr Batrouni. We will be running a series of articles in the coming days.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council renews business rates support scheme for city centre traders
Eligible traders in Newport could continue to receive a business rate reduction of up to 65 per cent in the coming financial year. City councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt the Welsh Government's renewed 40% support for businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. The vote also means the council's own 25% local rate relief scheme will be readopted for city centre businesses in the same sectors. Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, who leads Newport City Council, said more than 120 businesses had benefited from the local authority's own scheme this year. 'We need a culture of independent businesses in our city centre,' the council's deputy leader, Cllr Deb Davies, told colleagues at Tuesday's meeting. Independent councillor Miqdad Al-Nuaimi, whose Stow Hill ward includes much of the city centre, said he would 'very much welcome' the support for traders. Cllr James Clarke, the cabinet member for regeneration, said it was 'tough times at the moment' for traders, but 'we are trying to move Newport forwards'. He also said potential investors in Newport would see the rate relief schemes in a positive light. The council's Conservative group leader, Cllr Matthew Evans, said his party backed the extra support for businesses. But Cllr David Fouweather said he was 'concerned about the number of empty shops' and said tackling them should be a 'priority' for the council. However, Cllr Batrouni said it is a 'continuing misconception' that the local authority owns the city centre. Many of the premises are in private hands, and the council has limited powers to either encourage owners to breathe new life into buildings, or take enforcement action against landlords of problematic properties. But Cllr Batrouni, who has previously teased there are plans afoot for the city centre, told those present at the meeting that 2025 will be 'the year of regeneration' in Newport. Cllr Emma Stowell-Corten, the cabinet member for culture, added the rate relief schemes are 'clearly working' because of the proportion of independent traders in the city centre.
