Councillor wants good on university’s investment promise

Local TV

A Newport City councillor has accused the University of South Wales for not backing up a promise to invest money they made off the sale of a former campus site back into the city. Caerleon was once bustling with young people around the village, since the students left, it’s never quite been the same.

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00:00Locals in Killeen say that once upon a time, the village was bustling with young people

00:06from the university, filling the pubs, the green spaces, and making it a vibrant place

00:11to be.

00:12Past foremost almost a decade, and Killeen is now just bustling with cars, most of the

00:16former university site demolished, replaced by new houses.

00:21The old university campus housed thousands of students, and the listed building in the

00:24centre, despite being protected from demolition, is just sat amongst the new homes, not being

00:29used to its full potential.

00:31But it's not just in Killeen that you can feel the issues, as one Newport city councillor

00:36argues that investment since losing the campus has been half of what was promised by the University

00:40of South Wales when they sold the site in 2016.

00:45The campus was sold for over £6 million, and councillor Matthew Evans claims that promises

00:49were made at the time that money would be spent on investment in Newport.

00:53He claims those promises have not been fulfilled.

00:57He pressed the councillor leader to discuss the investment with USW heads, but councillor

01:01Dimitri Bartouni says they should not hold their breath, as the university have no legal

01:05obligation to make the investments, and financial issues are affecting higher education not just

01:10in Wales, but all across the UK.

01:13A university spokesperson said that we are continuing to prioritise work to grow our student

01:19numbers in Newport, whilst also undertaking a comprehensive transformation programme to ensure

01:24our future resilience, and so we can continue to deliver for our communities.

01:30Millions in lack of investment would be seen as a blow to Newport, and losing all those students

01:35has been an ongoing blow to Killeen and the rest of the city for the best part of a decade.

01:39James Peach Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

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