Green light for Penzance Sustainable Travel Network project

Members of Penzance Town Deal Board have confirmed that seven Town Deal funded schemes are to be delivered in the town over the next two years as part of the Sustainable Travel Network project.

These are the schemes at Market Jew Street, Green Market, Causewayhead, Coinagehall Street and Harbour, Ponsandane, New Road, Newlyn. Work is also taking place to develop a revised scheme at Branwells Mill.

Penzance currently experiences high levels of traffic in the centre of the town, restricting access for people with disabilities and those without access to their own car. There are a limited number of crossings and poor footways which reduce opportunities for walking and cycling. Some of the gateways into Penzance are also poor and do not convey a welcoming entrance to the town. The centre of Newlyn is dominated by vehicles which impacts on the attractiveness of the town and retail and leisure opportunities.

The key aims of the Penzance Sustainable Travel Network project, which is being delivered by Cornwall Council in partnership with the Penzance Town Deal Board, are to transform travel in and around the town, creating a fully sustainable network of safe and accessible walking, cycling and functional green and open urban spaces.

This includes implementing high quality public realm at key spatial locations and complementary to major investments, for example Causewayhead Creative Cluster, Coinagehall, the waterfront and town centre. The changes will help to support traffic calming, improve walking and cycling connectivity and introduce additional outdoor space on the high street.

The project has received £6.6 m from the government’s Town Deal programme which aims to boost the local economy and opportunities for residents. In 2021 Penzance Town Deal Board, in partnership with Cornwall Council, successfully bid for a Town Deal worth £21.9 million to support a range of projects that will contribute to the town’s regeneration and boost the local economy. Cornwall Council is the lead authority for Cornwall Town Deals and supports the governance role of the St Ives own Deal Board and administrates the fund.

“The overall aim of the Town Deal programme is to help regenerate Penzance “ said Martin Tucker, Chair of Penzance Town Deal Board. “The Sustainable Travel project is one that has been a long time in the making, with a huge amount of thought and feedback from the local community shaping the final schemes. We want to make our streets more attractive, safe and useable for pedestrians and cyclists, through managing traffic and major investment in environmental improvements and landscaping.”

"It's great to see the new Sustainable Travel Network for Penzance get the green light from its Town Deal Board” added Cornwall Council portfolio holder for the economy Louis Gardner. “The board and council officers have overcome economic, construction industry and technical challenges to turn local aspirations for greener and more welcoming streets into solid plans with Town Deal funding from Cornwall Council."

The original plan involved redesigning key areas of Penzance town centre. While members of Penzance Town Deal Board remain committed to the overall aims of creating a Sustainable Travel Network for Penzance, the impact of increases in interest rates and construction costs has affected the affordability of the project.

Some of the individual schemes, including the scheme for Branwells Mill, Newlyn, Ponsandane, Wharf Road and the South West Coast Path through the car park, also face particular challenges because of complex technical and buildability issues. As a result it is no longer possible to deliver all the original proposals within the funding which is currently available.

After discussing all the options, the Town Deal Board has agreed that the schemes for Market Jew Street, Green Market, Causewayhead, and Coinagehall Street and Harbour schemes, together with a reduced scheme for Ponsandane, will move into the delivery phase of the Sustainable Travel Network project.

There will also be special schemes to improve challenging areas for pedestrians and traffic in New Road and at Newlyn, with Cornwall Council confirming that the £125,000 costs of the Newlyn scheme will be funded from alternative sources if it cannot be met from within the Town Deal budget.

The Board have also confirmed the importance of addressing the issues around Branwells Mill. £250,000 of Town Deal funding has been allocated towards the costs of developing a revised scheme which will be delivered with the use of other funding, including the Bus Service Improvement Plan. Work is now taking place with partners to investigate potential options for the revised scheme.

Facilities for bike parking, bike hire and storage will be provided beside the bus and train stations to encourage linked, bus and bike use.

The Wharf Road, and the South West Coast Path schemes have been placed in reserve alongside the Western Promenade scheme. This ensures that they can be progressed in the future if additional funding is secured.

The project will support a series of attractive improvements up through the town centre, from the Branwell's Mill gyratory, up Market Jew Street to Greenmarket and the top of Causewayhead, making the town centre a more attractive and pedestrian and cycle-friendly place, and linking it to the Harbour and waterfront.

“The final project will open up the town and provide space for people to walk around freely, to be relaxed, to enjoy all that there's to offer and really bring some vibrancy to the centre of Penzance” said Martin Tucker.

As the Sustainable Travel Network project is being funded by the Town Deal programme, all the individual schemes must be delivered by March 2026. Detailed design work is now taking place for the confirmed schemes.

As is usual with transport schemes, statutory public consultation will be carried out by Cornwall Council’s highways department before any final decisions are made to implement the proposals.

Regular updates on individual schemes will be provided via the Let’s Talk Cornwall and Penzance Town Deal website and social media channels, the Town Deal newsletter and articles in the local media.

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