LONGSTANDING plans to install a £100,000 surf sculpture in Newquay are set to go ahead.

Newquay Town Council is looking at dates to erect a 16-foot-tall sculpture of a waverider at the Killacourt overlooking Towan Beach.

The Stuart and Cherrilyn Keogh Foundation donated the surf statue to celebrate the 60-year contribution the town has made to world surfing.

The surf sculpture, which will be mounted on a polished concrete plinth, has been made from stainless steel and bronze.

Mayor Drew Creek said: “The statue is in Newquay. It is sat at ACE General Engineering.

“It is essentially ready to go in the ground. We are in a position where our lawyers and the foundation lawyers are finalising some details.

“I note from the earmarked reserves we have spent a chunk of the original agreed £20,000 installation costs.”

Town Clerk Andy Curtis added: “We are finalising the paperwork right now.

“We have already had on site meetings with our environment services manager.

“They have gone through some details around drainage as you would expect and we are now very much selecting dates for install around bookings on the Killacourt and avoiding the peak period. We are literally at the last step now.”

A town council consultation saw 220 people object to a proposal to install the surf statue at the Killacourt but 407 supported the scheme.

Mr and Mrs Keogh donated the surf statue to give back to both the sport, and to Newquay" as both had supported their "success in life.”

The couple first moved to Newquay around the same time as the surfing trend took off in the area in the late1960s. They went on to set up several surf-related businesses including one of the first surf shops and surfboard factories in the town.

The surf sculpture will be a lasting legacy for Mr Keogh who died in 2023 at the age of 76.

Malcolm Bell stated when he was the chairman of Visit Cornwall that the surf statue could provide the equivalent of £500,000 a year of publicity to Newquay, adding to the £130million to £150million a year the sport already generated.