Parcelforce can move into Newport ship’s current home

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PLANS for a parcel service to expand into a unit currently used by the Newport Ship were approved at a city council meeting yesterday.

Royal Mail group wants to expand its Parcelforce depot at Maesglas Industrial Estate, boosting the number of jobs there from 60 to around 90.

In doing so it wants to change the use of Unit 22, currently used by the Newport Ship which is next door to the depot.

The council's lease on unit 22 is set to end on October 2014 - the council-run project will be able to continue using the building until then.


Newport planning committee approved planning permission for a change of use of the unit, and the conversion and extension of an existing car parking area to provide a service yard.

Councillors were told the scheme was part of a multi-million pound programme of investment, and that staff at the site would increase from 60 to between 90 and 95.

Planning councillor Paul Hannon, a Labour member for Beechwood ward, said the Newport Ship wasn't a matter for the committee to consider.

"This application underlines our status as a gateway city," he said.

The Argus reported in March that a team of consultants had suggested three possible sites for storing the ship's timber's once the lease set to expire on the Maesglas unit in 2014.

They included a site in Newport, in Nantgarw and in Portsmouth.

The consultants had been tasked to find a site for a new city museum, but decided not to make a recommendation after the council's administration had decided to put its priorities elsewhere.