To ask whether you are aware of the NATO summit taking place in Wales in September?

[emsiewill]

If you live in South Wales you are probably aware that 82 of the world's leaders, including Obama will be at the NATO summit taking place at the Celtic Manor in Newport on 4 - 5 September.

If you aren't local, you probably aren't aware that this is the largest security operation ever undertaken in the UK. That steel fences have been erected around the Celtic Manor and all around Cardiff, already causing traffic chaos.

And that this is taking place a mile from my house, I am on the route of one of the "peaceful" protests, and, with the current conflicts taking place in Gaza, Iraq and Syria, I am shit scared that the summit will be targeted by militants of one persuasion or another, and I and my family and neighbours will be directly in the firing line.

So, if you are not local to me, have you heard about this summit?

Aren't Debenhams back in now for Friar's Walk? What made them change their mind?

"Twinned with Guanxi province in China
There's no province finer"

That's an absolute classic of contemporary poetry. It's done more for the town than the tourist board ever managed.

I bet Obama doesn't get taken round the town centre, almost all that's left are pawnbrokers, charity shops and local council projects (ok, slight exaggeration, but that's how it feels). DD1 and I were passing through for a night recently and decided to spend the night in a B and B on Stow Hill for the sake of nostalgia - I spent my formative teenage years in Newport. It was a Monday night and we went down to the town centre to get a decent curry, but there was nothing open. We ended up at the Tom Toya Lewis again.

Yes, it is a touch Gothic. This fellow lives in reception.

(It's actually, rather nice and very pretty at Christmas.)

Ah, I've not been into town for a few years (moved away) but when they originally pulled out it was because someone quite high up in the company was threatened while he was in town by a bunch of yobs. They then decided that they didn't want the company associated with Newport!

It's such a shame but the council is a shower of clusterfucks who've done a really good job at completely killing the town centre - constantly raising rents and approving the big out of town shopping complex in Spytty meant that the town centre was basically pound shops and charity shops last time I went there. The recession didn't do it much good either .

I work in central Cardiff and it's already a nightmare, I can't have any clients in for 2 days next week unless absolutely necessary so that's two wasted days.

They would have to choose the first week back in school to hold it, wouldn't they?!

"it was because someone quite high up in the company was threatened while he was in town by a bunch of yobs"

I spent a summer once working in Manhattan where I only finished work downtown at midnight and then had to travel uptown alone, and now I live in a capital city of 4 million people with no pub closing times at all, and both of those situations are far less scary than a Friday night in Newport, particularly at 11 pm by the bus station or outside one of the clubs. It's an incredibly volatile environment.

"the council is a shower of clusterfucks who've done a really good job at completely killing the town centre". Yup, they seem determined to keep expensive parking which puts people off shopping there, when all the out-of-town developments and Cwmbran Shopping have free parking. So the only people who end up going to Newport are lower income families with no car who travel by bus, and of course they have less money to spend so the more upmarket shops have been closing down for years now.

You've hit the nail on the head there. I don't drive but I spend the extra 50p for the bus (£3 around Newport for a day ticket or £3.50 that serves a Cardiff, Cwmbran on Newport buses for the day too) and wait the extra 25 minutes to shop in Cardiff. Newport town centre is dead

Newport town centre is dire, I miss the old kingsway and can't believe changed it all for the sake of wilkinson taking up the entire bottom floor.

Spytty is just a nightmare to get in and out of with the car.

If Spytty had a Wilkos & a Primark I'm pretty confident the majority of people wouldn't ever shop in town. Everything else is pretty much there.

Oh, possibly a B&M/Home Bargains too. That's always super busy.

I had not heard but I did see the signs on the motorway.

I go to b&M which has the free parking

Could this be the reason the UK is on a severe threat level ? For terror.

Probably is misstired.

I don't feel my conventiently located home is quite so convenient at the moment.

I find it interesting that the British publics reaction to this really quite serious news is to take the piss (see twitter). British people, never change!

I am going off on a tangent here but I can't be the only Newportonian who is ridiculously excited about Nandos coming to Spytty?
I was in the town centre a few weeks ago as we had to take ds to the hospital. "Let us see how shit the shops are now!" says I. And shit it was. We only went in Boots.

I am VERY excited. I love Nando's and it'll make me want to go to Spytty more, especially since there's a Cafe Nero there now too.

If I were a terrorist, I would be hitting a different area of the UK with less police/security coverage & traffic tbh.

SextonBlake I also live very close to that park...how spooky!

To be fair to the "shower of clusterfucks" they are now trying to put some life back into the city centre, with the new Friars Walk development - dh manages the cinema at Spytty (completely outs self) & may be asked to take on the one that will be in the centre of Newport - although nothing concrete has been said yet.

Much as I love Spytty (and the rumour is they are going to pedestrianise the whole shopping area and put parking by Crapalan Matalan), I think there is definitely a need to revitalise the city centre. As dd2 is heavily involved in a choir / theatre arts school based in Cwmbran, I do most of my shopping there now - it's very retro in looks, but has all the necessary shops and of course the magic free parking. However, it would be nice to feel that I could go into Newport instead. Certainly, there's no reason for anyone my age to go into the centre at night.

Back to NATO - loads of police action at the Coldra today apparently, including no pedestrian access across the roundabout. I was so thrilled to hear about the threat level being raised...just brilliant.

Im travelling down to Cardiff tonight from North Wales for a family get together

It's getting worse around Central Cardiff , traffic problems & delays , people asked to work from home , ambulances having to drive further than they should , it's getting worse by the day !

Debating braving going to Cardiff tomorrow

Yes I'm looking forward to nando opening, but why haven't we got a Burger King.

Me too ICanSee, I'm hoping that if I avoid north rd and the castle area it'll be ok, someone tell me it'll be ok...

I'm not local and have read about it in The Times (last week?) and heard about it on Radio 4. But I am interested in international affairs and I generally pay attention for work purposes too... I think it's been in the media but not in a high profile way.