NATO Wales (Newport) - Where is the legacy?

Legacy. It's an important word. But where is the legacy of the NATO Wales Summit? And why has there been no mention of it?

The London Olympics was all about legacy. It was used as the justification for the huge spend on the games and remained a topic of contention before, during and after the event. However, with the London Olympics at least the city had something to show when the games ended, even it if was just a few sports venues and a park in a previously under-developed area in the East of the capital.

The NATO Summit Wales (Newport) will not cost anywhere near as much as the London Olympics as it doesn't require the building of stadia and infrastructure, but for a city the size of Newport the cost will (arguably) be proportionately more. We are a small city - actually the smallest city ever to host the NATO Summit - and the cost in policing and disruption will be considerable at a critical time when we are embarking on much needed regeneration. Can we really afford the disruption and expense at this moment?



The NATO Summit enthusiasts - clearly star struck and drunk on the idea of famous people coming to our city - have been spouting off about 'opportunity' since the day the event was announced. But it is a hollow promise of opportunity that hangs on a vague and desperate hope that Newport will somehow benefit from heightened global profile and will enjoy a noticeable upturn in inward investment and tourism triggered by the Summit. This is clearly pie-in-the-sky nonsense. There has yet to be any sort of return-on-investment analysis, but so far, all we know for certain is the event will cost the city dearly on many levels, and we have yet to hear of any tangible rewards for our involuntary investment. Quite simply, nobody appears to have any concrete suggestions about how Newport can actually take advantage of this mythical 'opportunity' beyond repeating the 'opportunity' mantra time and time again in the hope that it will become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

 

The public mood has noticeably turned against the Summit. The disruption is clearly unwelcome. There are some token PR events planned to try and love-up the people of Newport, including a 'NATO Festival' that sees a riverside food festival, marching band, parachute display and historic aircraft flypast, and a few local food businesses will get the chance to exhibit at the Summit venue. But against the huge economic and social cost of the NATO Summit, these tactics are bordering on insulting,

So what could/should NATO have realistically done to offset the inconvenience and expense to our beleaguered city - the smallest city ever to have the Summit forced upon it?

Collectively, NATO is immensely rich. Comprising the majority of European countries, Canada and the United States of America. It would have been a small matter for each member state to have donated to a fund to provide a genuine legacy for Newport - perhaps a new hospital or a couple of new schools. In the face of such a donation - small to the participants, but huge to our city - the resistance to the Summit would have greatly diminished. A new hospital is something Newport desperately needs and the people of the city would have genuinely appreciated such a gesture, regardless of whether they are for or against NATO as an organisation.

By doing this small thing NATO would have ensured a positive legacy in Newport. From a PR point alone this would have been invaluable to the organisation. Most major events and projects have a requirement to consider legacy before they are given permission to take place, so why not the NATO Summit?

Unfortunately, as far as Newport is concerned the only legacy we are facing is a long drawn-out task of trying to put a final cost on the event; inevitable disappointment that 'opportunity' failed to deliver; and a rather bitter taste left in the mouth.