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Councillor Fouweather asked: During December, Newport hit the headlines in the national tabloids for having the ‘Worst Christmas Tree in Britain’. Although, the headline titles may have been slightly over-exaggerated, several residents did express their disappointment with the fact half of the tree’s fairy lights were ‘off’ and not working. Hundreds more highlighted this on social media. The tree had been left in this state for two whole weeks unfixed and unrepaired. Why was this not repaired? Similarly, a telephone box on Llanarth Street / John Frost Square was left for weeks in a stinking dirty condition. Truly appalling. This was reported on by the BBC which displayed a photograph of the telephone box looking in a sorry state. Did the council contact British Telecom at any point in November to get this telephone box cleaned? On Bridge Street and Cambrian Road, rubbish and litter has regularly been seen blowing around in the wind, especially in the evenings. How are the council going to rectify this? In 2023, Newport Council employed a City Centre Manager to operate as a liaison with local businesses and to keep the city centre tidy. The followed the local elections in 2022 where a 'high profile' manifesto pledge was made to employ a Manager for the City Centre. Can the Cabinet Member explain how the City Centre Manager is monitored in terms of performance? Given the high profile manifesto pledge that was made in 2022 - this question is in the public interest and should be answered. Councillors Clarke and Forsey responded: Unfortunately, one of the four city centre Christmas trees was vandalised and some lights broken. The original manufacturer was contacted immediately to source the replacement components and carry out the repair. The lead time was longer than we would have liked, however, we are reviewing this to see if there is a way of avoiding such time delays in future. As you will be aware the council has no powers over BT. The council has complained to BT multiple times, long before November and has been successful in forcing the removal of 4 unsightly boxes in the city centre. However, BT persistently fail to maintain public telephone boxes to a satisfactory standard, not just in Newport but across the UK and I would urge you to write to them and the regulator Ofcom, who are responsible for enforcing the maintenance of public telephone boxes. The city centre benefits from a dedicated cleansing team, maintaining generally high standards of cleanliness. While busy periods can lead to some litter, the team responds quickly to restore order. Improvements funded this year and currently being implements include longer operational hours and new bins. We have also increased education and enforcement on flats above shops setting out waste and we will be trailing new arrangement for the storage of commercial waste in the new year. As you are already aware, matters relating to staff performance are not for political debate. However I can say the last two years have seen a huge increase in activity in the city centre. This includes, but not limited to, Happy hoardings, Busk Stops, Winter Wonderland, Music trail, New footfall and monitoring system, Installation of automatic barrier controls, improved linkage to main train station. Natural drainage upgrades, reduction in rough sleeping. Free movie events. Joint enforcement activities. Plus one on one support to multiple business helping to see Newport buck the national trend with increased footfall and a decrease in vacant retail units.
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