CAMPAIGNERS have seen red after controversial plans to remove parking bays in Newquay town centre to make way for a cycle lane were given the green light.

Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for transport Dan Rogerson has signed off a scheme, to convert 18 short term parking spaces in Cliff Road, which aims to make the roads around Newquay Train Station ‘safer’ for walkers and cyclists as part of the Mid Cornwall Metro.

The ‘Save Cliff Road parking’ campaign received more than 1,000 signatures opposing the plans following fears the scheme will impact businesses.

However, Newquay central Cornwall councillor Joanna Kenny believes the benefits of the scheme will outweigh the negatives.

Cornwall Council plans to widen the current footways on Cliff Road with a dedicated segregated cycle lane, and a new pedestrian crossing built outside Rebellion. The bus stops will be improved and extended and the loading bays relocated.

The council says there will be an additional 50 new parking spaces in the area including a new car park, which will be free from 4pm to 9am and during the winter, and extended free parking at Newquay Railway Station from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Free on-street parking bays outside Wetherspoons, including three dedicated disabled parking bays, and on street parking at Oakleigh Terrace will allow parking of up to an hour.

Campaigner Dirk Parker, K2 gym owner in Cliff Road, said: “It is a sad day for common sense and democracy. Every business, upon consultation was against this.

“High streets are fighting for their lives. Rising National Insurance costs, increasing business rates and now the people we elect locally to fight on our behalf are making it more difficult to access our businesses.

“Decisions like this are painfully stupid. There has been zero considerations given to the residents of flats above the shops on Cliff Road.

“For balance. I will give credit where credit is due. The coach works carpark past the police station is being turned into 55 space paid for carpark. This is a positive but there is no reason this could have not happened independently happened anyway.”

Shop owners and residents say they would have liked to have seen Cornwall Council implement an alternative cycle route put forward by Newquay BID where the cycle lane would have turned off down Edgcumbe Avenue. The route would have connected with Newquay Junior Academy and the existing pathway by the train station but the project delivery team at Cornwall Council stated the alternative route would make the scheme “more dangerous.”

The business impact assessment stated that it estimates around 6.4 percent of visitors are likely to change destinations following the removal of the on-street parking spaces on Cliff Road. However it also concluded any negative impacts of loss of customers from immediate parking loss on Cliff Road businesses can be offset if the businesses are able to capture the opportunities from additional visitors enabled by improved and more frequent rail services from the Mid Cornwall Metro scheme.

The report said: “On balance, this business impact assessment suggests that the overall investment in active travel and public realm together with an enhanced rail provision to Newquay should be positive for local businesses.

“From 2026, the service between Newquay and Par will double. The route currently provides one train every two hours, and it will become an hourly service adding around 700,000 seats both ways per year. This means more people will be traveling to and from Newquay train station, changing the dynamics of future retail, leisure, cultural and residential development in the area.”

Cllr Kenny said: “I am well aware that some, but not all, businesses are concerned at the removal of parking in Cliff Road – and I have a specific problem with the loading bay, although it has been improved, is still on the wrong side of the road.

“But I accept that overall the benefits of additional short term parking at the station, new parking in Oakleigh Terrace and above all the new Tolcarne car park with its solution for coach parking – as well as the new cycle track itself - outweigh the disadvantages.

“And there will be some more indirect benefits. The development of the car park will remove the pinch point in Tolcarne Road that has prevented delivery vans being able to access the commercial businesses down Quarry Park road – and hopefully where the new parking areas, and the areas where people should not park, are installed, we can also do a refresh of the double yellow lines in Tolcarne Road and Oakleigh Terrace so faint now as to be completely ineffective.

“This is all being paid for by the Government levelling up fund as a single project and we are not able to cherry pick from the complete project. We need that sort of investment in Newquay. And the alternative of refusal would have meant that those monies would be invested in other towns.”

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Over the last 18 months, we have shared designs with businesses and residents about changes to the roads around Newquay’s Station Quarter and made significant changes to the plans to incorporate feedback received.

“At the request of the local business community, we carried out a business impact assessment which found that footfall is not heavily dependent on the parking spaces on Cliff Road.

“The improvements, which form part of the Mid Cornwall Metro project, aim to make the roads leading to and around Newquay Railway Station safer for walkers and cyclists and to create an attractive gateway to the local area where people want to spend time and visit local shops and businesses.”