Anger and frustration as 15th Century ship set to remain in storage

Campaigners say they are "angry and frustrated" that a medieval ship discovered in Newport nearly 25 years ago is still no closer to being given a permanent home.

The 15th Century Newport Ship was found in 2002 in the muddy riverbank of the Usk during construction of the Riverfront Theatre in the city centre.

But councillors are expected to confirm the ship will continue to be kept in storage for the foreseeable future, given the estimated £27.5m cost of building a permanent display venue.

Another factor is the "very limited availability" of a suitable site in Newport, although the council says its long-term ambition is "to enhance public interpretation of the ship".

After being found, the ship's timbers were disassembled and went through an extensive restoration process before the 2,500 parts were finally returned to a storage facility in Newport.

The site is occasionally open to visitors, though campaigners' long-term ambition is to see it restored and reassembled to its full 30m (98.4 ft) size, in a similar manner to the Tudor-era Mary Rose warship in Portsmouth.

"She's a wonderful find from the time of the great voyages of exploration, where Europe reached out to the other continents," said Charles Ferris, chair of Friends of the Newport Ship.

"It's like somebody finding, say, the Space Shuttle in 600 years' time.

"She's not a warship, she's a trader and that's a wonderful thing to me because that's the heart of Newport."

But a new report, set to be considered by Newport City Council's cabinet on Wednesday, has recommended keeping the existing storage arrangements that currently cost £115,000 a year.

Options outlined include a trial reassembly project, or a permanent display facility, but the council noted that "no ready-made facility exists" and that such a site would cost around £27.5m.

Transferring the ship to a custodian outside of Newport for display and preservation was also "something the council is not looking to do".

"While the council's long-term ambition remains to enhance public interpretation of the ship, there is no proposal at the moment that is fully developed, funded and capable of delivery within a sustainable operating model," the report added.

But that has infuriated opposition councillors, who say a permanent display for the ship would boost tourism.

"We've been talking about this for a decade now," said Matthew Evans, who leads the council's Conservative group.

"I'm very disappointed at the lack of action, the lack of ambition.

"We're talking about a world-class opportunity here for tourism.

"The Mary Rose has hundreds of thousands of visitors, and we've just sat on our backsides and done nothing at all, kicked it into long grass.

"I'm angry and frustrated at the lack of progress."

Evans acknowledged the council could not be expected to fund the entire project, but rejected claims there were no suitable locations in Newport.

"We've got plenty of sites along the riverfront we could have been talking to developers about, but we haven't done it," he said.

"You find a site, then you look at private investors, and then you build that from there.

"The council needs to be driving this – I'm tired of all these excuses, no action."

Successive council administrations have shown a "lack of ambition" in making the most of the "fantastic resource" that was discovered, says one of the area's Senedd members.

"There's an opportunity there to, in conjunction with the Transporter Bridge and maybe Caerleon, [for] a package of historical tourism, if you like," said Plaid Cymru MS Peredur Owen Griffiths.

"For the city, it could well be an excellent way of looking at how to invest in new facilities for the ship.

"And I think I'm a little bit disappointed in Newport council that their ambition is to put this into further storage for another few years, rather than look at the opportunities that might be available."

Campaigners are also anxious to see the ship remain in Newport, rather than being displayed at a museum facility elsewhere in the future.

"A lot of money has been spent on that ship, so we're really on the last stretch as it were, we don't want to see it fizzle out now," said Ferris.

"I think it would be a tragedy if it was ever taken anywhere else. That would be a terrible indictment on us, and after all it was the will of the Newport people that saved it."