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Argus Lite


Arguslite Contact


Argus Lite Cardiff Road, Maesglas, Newport, NP20 3QN General Inquiries : 01633 810000


EDITORIAL: Editor: Nicole Garnon Tel : 01633 777203 nicole.garnon@gwent-wales.co.uk


ADVERTISING - DISPLAY: Andrea Hall 01633 777207 andrea.hall@gwent-wales.co.uk


ADVERTISING - CLASSIFIED Paula Jones 01633 777115 paula.jones@gwent-wales.co.uk


The Argus Lite distributes 10,000 copies which are available across Newport, Cwmbran, Pontypool and Risca through selected outlets. Read all of the local news, information and sport online at southwalesargus.co.uk


COMPLAINTS: We care about accuracy. We strive to avoid making mistakes but these can happen. If you find an error of fact, please contact the editor. If we have made an error we will be happy to correct it in the next available issue.


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The Argus Lite is published by Newsquest Media (Southern) PLC, a Gannett company, from its offices at Cardiff Road, Maesglas, Newport, NP20 3QN. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper.


Cooking pizza on the bus


CHILDREN at Llanmartin Primary School have been making pizza on the school bus – but they’re not in trou- ble, it’s a charity initiative to get kids cooking. By the end of this week, 144 children from the school in Underwood will have learned some kitchen skills in a mo- bile classroom parked nearby. Parents were treated to bara brith, pizza made from scratch, apple and apricot filo parcels, rainbow cous- cous salad, Caerphilly salad and Caribbean fruit salad as children took their dishes home with them, as well as the recipe needed to repeat their creations. Headteacher Victoria Curtis said: “It’s an absolutely amaz- ing thing to see the looks on the children’s faces. “They’re not just taught


how to cook, they’re taught about nutrition as well, and why it’s so important we have our five a day.” The Focus on Food charity bus stops at a different school each week, normally those in Communities First areas.


southwalesargus.co.uk


Friday, March 28, 2014


UNUSUAL VENUE FOR A LESSON: Pupils Leah Carey and Tegan Vigors, both nine, make pizza dough


Ex-county hall site is to be sold for housing


THE former site of County Hall in Torfaen will be sold off after the local authority agreed its freehold is surplus to council re- quirements. The building, jointly owned


by Torfaen County Borough Council (TCBC) and Monmouth- shire County Council (MCC), was demolished in October 2013 because of structural defects which were judged to be beyond economic repair. With the local authority con- tributing £1 million as half the costs towards the tear-down, a report before the council’s cabi- net yesterday recommended the Croesyceiliog site be marketed for sale by Torfaen council on behalf of the two owners. The council would not say how much it valued the land at but in 2008 it was reported that Torfaen


By RobOwen 01633 777242 robert.owen@gwent-wales.co.uk Twitter@ArgusROwen


and Monmouth each hoped to re- ceive £4 million. The cabinet report said: “It is


now proposed that cabinet de- clares our share of the freehold interest in the site surplus to TCBC requirements.” Cabinet members unanimously


agreed the recommendation as they were told the demolition of the site, which is allocated in the local development plan for resi- dential development, alongside the existing Gwent Police HQ, was brought in belowbudget. The sale will contribute to one of the council’s corporate priorities, to “prevent Torfaen residents becoming homeless”,


the report added. It said: “One way in which this is to be done is to ensure the housing is ap- propriate to meet people’s needs. Making the land available for residential development will contribute to this priority.” The money from the sale has been earmarked already for the Torfaen 21st Century Schools Programme. County Hall was most recently shared by the two councils until both found new premises in Pon- typool and Magor respectively. County Hall was also the now- defunct Gwent County Council offices prior to the restructuring of local authorities in 1996. But ‘concrete cancer’ was said


to have forced its closure, de- spite it being less than 30 years old when the problem was diag- nosed.


Gym and theatre visits increase


GYMuse and visits to the city’s Riverfront theatre and Transporter Bridge have all increased over the past year, while library visits have dropped, a report has revealed. The Continuing Learning and Leisure


Performance Report reviews the four priorities of the council’s cultural strat- egy: Culture and Learning, Health andWell-Being, Enriched Lives and Cultural and Creative Economy. One of the biggest improvements


noted is in the visits to theNewport International Sports Village (NISV) andNewport centre gyms. In theOctober 2013-January 2014


period, the NISV gym sawan increase from18,207 usages in 2012 to 31,831 in 2013. The ‘7 for £7’ campaign, which


offered seven gym visits for £7, proved to be a success with 2246 people signing up in the first 50 days. At the date of the report, 219 had


completed all seven days and 60 had signed up to leisurememberships.The report also shows improvements in the Transporter Bridge usage. Since Easter 2013,when the bridge opened as a visitor attraction, income has increased by 300 per cent, visits by 9 per cent and car usage by 50


per cent. At the Riverfront theatre, there have


been almost 10,000more visits com- pared to the previous year. The report predicts visits to libraries


to be both belowtarget and below last year’s figures. Visits have also reduced atMaindee


Library, whichwas under threat of closure this year. The report highlights the biggest


challenge as Central Library, saying the closure of surrounding shops and the current demolitionwork in the city centre has resulted in reduced foot- fall.


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