Improvement plans for Usk supported by councillors

A masterplan which sets out ambitious plans to improve Usk has won the backing of Monmouthshire councillors.

The strategy includes improving Bridge Street for pedestrians, cyclists and as a place and improving Twyn Square to create a vibrant heart to the town.

Improving pedestrian and cycle links between Usk, the Coleg Gwent campus and Monmouthshire council’s County Hall are also set out, alongside tackling parking issues in the town and enhancing riverside paths.

Many of the projects are reliant on gaining funding, but it is thought having the plan in place could help with securing cash.

At a meeting of the council’s economy and development select committee on Thursday, Cllr Giles Howard voiced support for the plan, but added that money would be “the big issue” for many of the ideas put forward.

“It’s a great document, but it’s a little bit like looking in a sweet shop window and salivating at all the things in there, only to find you go in and can just afford a Twix,” he said.

“I would hate people to be disappointed or to believe they will get things they will not.”

Roger Hoggins, one of the council officers leading the project, said it was “a chicken and egg issue”.

“If you have not got a plan in place then you are unlikely to gain funding and take these projects forward,” he said.

But he added that some of the schemes could also be delivered more quickly than others.

Cllr Brian Strong said bringing forward plans for the former recycling centre in the town could be a project which could be delivered in the short-term.

He added that pedestrianisation would be ‘ideal’, but he thought that delivering it would “cause too many problems”.

Cllr Val Smith said parking is “a huge issue” in Usk which needs to be tackled.

She also said improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes were needed, as well as a “clean up” of the town.

Cllr Sara Jones, cabinet member for economy, said the diversity of businesses in Usk make it ‘unique’, adding it has “a very different offer to what our typical high streets look like”.

“Usk has got a really exciting future ahead of it and I think this report speaks a lot to that,” she said.

The committee agreed to recommend to the cabinet that the council adopts the masterplan.