Save Newport Visitor and Information Centre
Newport Visitor Centre

This is the website of the Newport Visitor Centre Action Group.

The Action Group was formed in October 2016 at a meeting organised by Newport Community Forum in response to the threatened closure by the National Park of the building on Long Street with the objective of saving / resinstating the Information Centre for the Community.

With much support from the community, visitors and others, our campaign was instrumental in the National Park keeping the Visitor Centre open a further season and contributed to the decision to let the building to Newport Town Council for a peppercorn rent. However, the Centre remained closed from December 2017 for about a year. The library moved into the Visitor Centre building (in accordance with the plan first proposed by the Action Group) at the end of 2018. A replacement visitor service has started for Easter 2019. For more details see history.

The Forum Coordinating Committee decided at its last meeting that this website will be closing in the near future as there is no longer a need. The Forum's Visitor Centre Action Group would like to thank everyone who has supported us in our endeavours.

Whilst we regret that the National Park is not working in collaboration with the community in providing a full National Park Visitor Service to serve this area of the Park - as the Action Group had hoped, and worked tirelessly towards - we wish the community well in its efforts to run a replacement service.

LATEST NEWS

The Conolfan Croeso Welcome Centre building is now open as follows -

Community Library:

At these times community volunteers and PCC staff do their best to help visitors

Information Service:

Hours will increase when the team is able to provide more cover

An official opening will take place on Saturday 8th June

16th March 2019 - good news!  The new Visitor Centre (with limited opening hours at first) will open on 25th March, in the old TIC, sharing the space with the Library. More details, especially information for those involved in tourism and local businesses, is here: https://www.facebook.com/newportpembs/posts/2246854612252600

31st January 2019 - Meetings on 4th February. We have heard that progress has been made setting up a group to run the Visitor Centre. Two meetings for potential volunteers will be held on Monday 4th February at Llwyngwair Arms at 2.30 or 6.00pm. The purpose is to ask what role volunteers might fill and what hours they can commit each week. We hope as many volunteers as possible will come forward - the poster announcing the meetings can be seen by clicking here and if you can't make it you can write to the email address given in the poster.

14th January - we are writing to Cllr. Jano Williams to ask for assurance that the Centre will be in operation for Easter, and restating that the Community Forum would be a good place to seek support as it was instrumental in setting up the Library Group.

1st January 2019 - Progress report (extract from recent Newport Community Forum newsletter)

Newport Canolfan Croeso /Welcome Centre Long Street SA42 0TN, is now leased from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority by Newport Town Council for 30 years at the peppercorn rent of £1 p/a, and occupied by Newport Community Library and Newport Visitor Centre.

Newport Community Library (NCL) is already happily installed. Congratulations to Newport Library Working Group for a well organised move by library volunteers with the help of PCC library staff and Town Councillors. NCL now looks forward to becoming more of a community hub with exciting projects in the pipeline such as a Homework Club and a transport scheme, possibly in cooperation with Newport Time Bank, to convey those who cannot get to the library themselves.

Newport Visitor Centre has held its first meeting to sign up volunteers. There was a fantastic turnout. Early in the New Year there will be a meeting of those who offered to be on the Working/Steering Group. They will establish a programme of meetings, decide what they want to be called, and roles in the group, and start working with PAVS to set up the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). They will also be getting the volunteers together to meet again and start working together. Volunteer training sessions with National Parks and the Visit Wales "Community Tourism Ambassadors" scheme will be scheduled. Some employees who used to run the Visitor Centre have kindly offered to give advice, which will be invaluable. If all goes well, it is hoped that a basic service will start from March 2019. “We don't want to rush things - we want everyone to enjoy being a volunteer”. All volunteer support, however small a role, will be vital to the success of the Visitor Centre and will form a sound base from which a Centre can be built that will do Newport proud. If you wish to volunteer in this exciting project please don't hesitate: contact Jano Williams E: janowilliamsntc@icloud.com T: 01239 821266

Older news has been moved to the NEWS page.

The case for keeping the Visitor Centre Open (2017)

Read our history page for more background details.

This site will be updated with more information as we get it.

Last updated 5th June 2019