2021 was a year of big changes for Newport city centre.
Some major developments are currently underway across Wales' third city which had the fastest growing population of any Welsh city in 2020.
Major restoration work is ongoing at the historic Transporter Bridge, while plans to revamp both the indoor market and Market Arcade are due to complete in 2022. There are also big plans for housing in the city and its outskirts at the likes of Jubilee Park in Rogerstone and at the former campus in Caerleon.
Read more: All the big changes in Newport this year and what's on the horizon for 2022
But while it continues to transform, Newport also saw some major potential projects fall by the wayside.
Here is a rundown of the big plans for the city which didn't happen in 2021.
Commercial waste incinerator
Plans for a £150 million commercial waste incinerator on Newlands Road near Wentloog Corporate Park, between Cardiff and Newport, were first mooted back in 2019.
The project, which would have ran 24 hours a day, raised concerns from residents and local campaigners who claimed it would create a health hazard, increase traffic and air pollution and said it was too close to homes and schools.
The company behind the scheme, Môr Hafren Bio Power, said in 2019 that 40 lorries would also visit and leave the site each day, six days a week and there would be 36 car journeys, totalling 116 vehicle movements each day.
After a two-year long battle, the project was thrown out by Welsh Government in November last year. In its final report the inspector in charge of the decision said its "insufficient need, conflict with the development plan and lack of compliance with the Welsh Government waste strategy outweigh the carbon emission, energy generation, socio-economic and ditch management benefits that the scheme would bring."
Welsh Minister for Climate Change Julie James MS agreed, citing the "adverse ecological effects" in her decision to refuse permission.
Shipping container food court
Proposals for an outdoor food court in the What! store car park in Rogerstone were first lodged with Newport City Council back in April 2021.
Yard Group Ltd, the company behind the plans, told WalesOnline at the time they hoped the venue would "attract people from all over" towns and cities outside Newport if its application was successful. The proposals included shipping container-style food stalls serving different types of world cuisine, as well as a licenced bar, coffee shop and live music.
Despite being given a licence to serve alcohol, a planning application was eventually rejected by the council in August after planners said the applicants had "not demonstrated the need" for the venue. They also said the plans did not show that there were "no sequentially preferable sites within the city centre or other defined centres."
New Aldi store
In November plans for a new Aldi store in Mon Bank were rejected by Newport city councillors.
The discount supermarket chain had submitted an application for the store in the new Mon Bank estate in Pill in November 2020. That August, more than 200 residents signed a petition opposing it, citing concerns over increased traffic, noise pollution and the number of supermarkets already in the area.
The plans, which would have been Aldi's third store in Newport, were unanimously rejected by councillors who said there was no need for a large supermarket at the site.
Former BHS building
British department store BHS was a mainstay on UK high streets for many years until it plunged into financial turmoil in 2016, resulting in the closure of its 163 stores.
The once-popular BHS store at 16-18 Commercial Street, near Chartist Tower, has lay empty ever since, serving as a daily reminder of a bygone era in Newport's retail history.
So there was some excitement when proposals to convert the site into a hub offering job centre type facilities on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions were put forward last year.
However, in May 2021 the proposals were withdrawn for an unknown reason. No further proposals have been submitted and the building remains empty.
'Unacceptable' solar farm
Plans for a huge 150-hectare solar farm in Marshfield near Newport and between Peterstone Wentlooge and St Brides Wentlooge in the Gwent Levels were revealed back in August 2020.
The proposals would have seen an energy hub of 160 battery units and around 250,000 solar panels on the proposed site for 40 years. The plans were submitted by Savills on behalf of the Wentlooge Farmers' Solar Scheme Limited, who said it would provide green energy for nearly 40,000 homes if approved.
However local campaigners from Friends of the Gwent Levels (FOGL) claimed the development would be "damaging" towards the Levels due to its fragile ecosystem and status as a rare wildlife habitat.
Despite a report from planning inspector Hywel Wyn Jones recommending consent for the plans, Minister Lesley Griffiths said it would have an “unacceptable impact” on a landscape of outstanding historic interest and the project was rejected in September.
Controversial HMOs
Many areas have seen a huge growth in the number of HMOs (houses of multiple occupation) in recent years, and Newport is no different.
Last May plans to turn a mortgage company into flats in Newport were rejected due to concerns occupiers would have “unacceptable living standards”.
The application, which drew criticism from residents particularly concerned with parking, sought to change the use of 260 Chepstow Road in Beechwood from offices to a six-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO).
Planning officers said those living at the site would have "unacceptable living standards by reason of noise disturbance, lack of outdoor amenity space, lack of waste storage facilities and inadequate levels of light, privacy and ventilation."
Controversial women’s 'rehabilitative' centre
In March 2021 a petition by residents was set up to oppose plans to transform Willow House on Stow Park Circle in the Gaer into a residential women's centre for Welsh women serving a community sentence, the first of its kind in Wales.
The letter, seen by WalesOnline, said a change of use application was being prepared to convert the former care home into a residential women's centre which it said will "keep Welsh women close to home while providing intensive rehabilitative support as part of a community sentence". Other Welsh sites including the Atlantic hotel in Porthcawl and the Sunnyside Wellness Village in Bridgend were also being considered by the Ministry of Justice at the time.
Residents opposing the development said the area already suffered from crime problems and that a rehabilitative centre would "only add to our ongoing problems."
In June, the Ministry of Justice confirmed the Newport site was no longer being considered for the site as it was non longer on the market.
Day care homes plan
Last June plans to build new homes on the site of a former day care centre were rejected by Newport City Council due to concerns over the privacy of other residents in the area.
A planning application was lodged in March to demolish the former Kensington Court Day Centre on Oaklands Road, Newport to make way for eight four-bed townhouses, including a mixture of terraced houses and detached homes.
The plans received a number of rejections from local residents, one of whom said some of the houses would "be able to see into every room in all the houses that overlook the development.
Refusing permission, planners said the plans "[failed] to have suitable regard to trees and adjacent woodland" and would result in "pressure to fell protected trees" nearby. They also said there was "insufficient information" to suggest the homes "would not result in an adverse impact to neighbouring privacy."
M4 relief road
One of Wales' most controversial and long-running sagas, the M4 relief road was first formally scrapped in 2019, but it was 2021 that put the final nail in the coffin for the project.
A total of £135.7m in public money was spent on the M4 relief road, which would have seen a new road built to alleviate traffic congestion near the Brynglas Tunnels.
The money spent included development work like "environmental surveys, ground investigation data and transport models" before the road was scrapped in June 2019 after years of political wrangling, delays, disagreements over cost and environmental concerns.
Although there had been some attempts to get the project revived during the May 2021 election, planning protection for the road's proposed route, which had protected it from any other developments, was scrapped in June 2021 by deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters.
This was followed in August by the Welsh Government writing off the final £78 million costs of the road, effectively signalling the end of any hope it will go ahead.
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