What is the Newquay Town and Parish Plan?

This is a Community-led plan of action, which sets out how the people of Newquay and its surrounding area wish to see their town develop in the future

Who is doing this plan?

This plan is being driven by the community of Newquay. Leading the work is a Steering Group, chaired by Lady Helen Long, which represents a whole array of community based organisations and people. These include local residents, business, the Town Council, Residents Associations, Chamber of Commerce and education establishments.

By raising grant money, the group are now able to do the most important thing, which is to involve the local people in driving this forward. Producing a plan for an area as large and diverse as Newquay is quite a task, so the Steering Committee have engaged a professional co-ordinator to drive this process forward.

There have been a lot of plans and consultations, why do this one?

Other towns and areas within Cornwall have either already produced or are working on parish plans, which have fed into the District and County Community strategies to help voice the needs of their communities and set out strategies of how they will reach their goals. This is particularly important now that Cornwall is governed by a Unitary Authority, and it is essential that Newquay provides a strategy of its own.

By highlighting important issues it will be in a strong position to influence polices for the future as well as being able to drive forward projects and initiatives of its own. It will link to and influence a lot of these other plans - with the community's needs put right at the centre.

There are examples of these plans and the positive initiatives all around the region. Examples of projects and initiatives resulting from these plans include those in Saltash, Sturminster Newton in Dorset and Ivybridge in Devon (click on names for link). These initiatives started out from documents such as those contained within plans in Penzance or Newton Abbot (click on words to see).

How will it do this work?

The key to the success of this plan is to get as many people within the community to contribute to it as much as possible. Different methods will be used; ranging from an area-wide questionnaire going to everyone in the Parish (people will be able to complete this either on-line or in hard copy), meetings, workshops, forums, work groups.

Special effort is being made to talk to those who might find difficulty in responding, such as the elderly, school children, homeless and those with disabilities.

Which areas does this cover?

The Districts which the Newquay plan will cover include the main town area and all built up areas including Pentire, Mayfield, Treloggan, Trencreek, Porth, Whipsiderry and St. Columb Minor, plus Gusti Veor, Gusti Vean, Chapel, Trewollack, Penrose, Trevelgue, Trebelsue, Watergate Bay and Tregurrian. However, we are also talking to people, businesses and groups from a wider area who influence and are influenced by what Newquay does.

What's been happening?

A public meeting took place in February to begin the process of developing the issues around particular areas of work. A presentation was made at that meeting about what the plan is (and isn't) and how long the process will take. In addition, local people and groups were able to make comments on the issues that would need addressing and the projects that need to be taken forward. A copy of this presentation is available by clicking here.

What's happening now?

Many meetings and discussions have been taking place with a wide range of groups and individuals which have been focused around areas such as the "Economy", "Social issues, Civic Pride and Young People" and "The Environment."

These discussions have informed the Questionnaire launched on 28th June. This will be available to everyone via the internet and in hard copies for those without access to the Internet (please contact the coordinator for where copies may be accessed). Information will be available through the press and a leaflet being sent to every household in the area. To access the Questionnaire, please click on "Questionnaire" on the sidebar of this web page, or click here.

We very much welcome comments, ideas and involvement from as many people as possible; whether living, working, studying, visiting, influencing or being influenced by Newquay. The coordinator would very much welcome the opportunity to talk to individuals or groups about their views of Newquay and any ideas about moving the town forward into the future.

For more information, please contact the Parish Plan Co-ordinator, Mark Goodman by clicking here.