COUNCIL chiefs have made a U-turn and agreed to stage a public survey on proposals to introduce a residents’ parking scheme in Newquay.

Cornwall Council is looking at the possibility of introducing a “comprehensive, fair, and locally minded residents' parking scheme” in key areas, which encompasses hotspots whilst also preventing impacts being felt in other areas.

The unitary authority is also considering empowering Newquay Town Council staff to enforce parking, which aims to “open up more resources and powers to ensure good practice and safe behaviour.”

Cornwall Council was previously not looking to stage a residents’ parking public survey due to the “cost implications.”

Newquay MP Noah Law and Newquay Cornwall councillors including mayor Cllr Drew Creek have put pressure on the authority to stage a survey as they believe it is important for resident’s views to be heard. They argue “a lot” has changed since the last residents parking consultation was held in 2017 such as more people now working from home.

The Residents Parking for Newquay Group has been calling for resident parking zones to be introduced as it argues there is “no coherent” plan in place to manage the traffic entering the town. The group says resident parking zones would free up spaces for people who live in the area and stop shoppers, workers and surfers from taking up all the spaces.

The Cornwall Council survey will be asking residents on their views on what the parking issues are. The authority’s transport team will then look at the recurring themes and how they can be addressed. Any public consultation would then follow this work, but it will depend on what comes up in the survey.

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Newquay’s local Cornwall councillors have asked us to look into options for managing parking in the town including potential resident’s parking zones. To help understand the scale and nature of the parking issues in the town and identify potential solutions, we will shortly be asking residents for their views through a survey we will be running on Let’s Talk Cornwall.”

Cllr Creek added: “I have been working with officers at Cornwall Council since being elected in May to revisit the need for a review of residents parking.

“The last review was many years ago and since then we have had the pandemic and cost of living crisis which has seen an increase of people working from home and an increase in the numbers of people sharing properties meaning more demand on residents parking with limited spaces, this is obviously exacerbated by our visitor population.

“So, I welcome the announcement of an online consultation regarding residents parking to explore possible options, I would strongly encourage you, your friends, neighbours and family to fill out this survey as if we want change and I feel it is needed, we will need a good turnout of responses.”

Newquay central Cornwall councillor Joanna Kenny said: “I have been working with my fellow Cornwall councillors in Newquay since day one of this council trying to improve parking for residents in Newquay and we have been discussing plans for consulting with residents within Cornwall Council.

“I favour concentrating on individual self-contained areas, similar to the resident parking scheme introduced by Geoff Brown for Ennors Road. I absolutely support giving our local enforcement staff in the town council the powers to control parking and it’s there the MP can be of real help as I understand this requires a change in the law.”

Newquay MP Noah Law has launched his own parking survey, which will be fed into the public consultation. He is also “pushing” for a Quintrell Downs Park and Rail service to be delivered as part of the Mid Cornwall Metro upgrades.

Mr Law said: “Cornwall Council have agreed to look again at the need for residents' parking in Newquay.

“It is a well-known fact of life for anyone living in Newquay, especially during peak seasons, that parking can be next to impossible at times. Following pressure from myself and local councillors, Cornwall Council has agreed to run a consultation on how to improve the situation in Newquay.

“When it was originally announced that there wouldn't be a consultation to revisit the question of whether there should be more residents parking schemes there was a big fuss about it. I immediately wrote to the portfolio holder to say essentially, "When I was elected, I pledged to work to revitalise our towns and better parking provision for local residents Newquay, whilst working to get as much holiday traffic off the roads and onto public transport as possible are key parts of this work.

“So, I’m committed to working closely with the council to ensure this happens. I was disappointed when it seemed they were unwilling to try and revisit this question. I appreciate full consultations from Cornwall Council come with a cost, but there is much we can do to test the water and find out what residents really want, which is why I've been back out on the doorstep in recent weeks asking just that.

“I'm delighted the administration has now taken up this cause and will be asking local residents to put forward their views. Cllr Creek also took issue with it, as did Newquay Central Cornwall councillor Joanna Kenny and we are trying to work together cross-party to improve the situation.

“As a part of this consultation process, I will be aiming to speak to as many stakeholders as possible - residents from all walks of life, businesses from all sectors, and key civic representatives. As well as the survey, I will be holding a town hall-style discussion on Newquay's parking woes.”

People who would like to take part in Mr Law’s parking survey can visit survey.labour.org.uk/parkinginnewquay