CITY residents and business owners have learned how planned work to upgrade gas pipes in the Kenwyn Street area will impact the city centre between January and May next year.

Wales & West Utilities is due to carry out £130,000 of investment work from January 2, 2025, replacing outdated pipes in several phases over five months.

As the work moves around the city centre, there will be road closures in Kenwyn Street, City Road, Little Castle Street, Calenick Street and Infirmary Hill. Traffic diversions and temporary bus stops will be in operation.

Detailed plans were revealed at a drop-in session in Truro Library last Tuesday, with members of Wales & West project team on hand to answer questions.

Programme controller Abby Smith explained the gas pipes had reached the end of their “shelf life” and the company was required to replace them within a certain period, with timings agreed in collaboration with Cornwall Council.

“There will be short-term disruption for long-term gain,” she said. “We understand it will affect the city, and our aim is to keep everyone as happy as we can while working in a safe way.”

But Matthew Hurst, owner of Three Rivers Furniture in Kenwyn Street, anticipates the work could leave his business 30 per cent down at his busiest time of year. “It’s going to be a total disaster,” he said.

Wales & West claims to have sent 5,000 letters to homes in the area in mid-September. However, Mr Hurst said his letter arrived only the day before the drop-in event.

He has consulted separately with Wales & West but said: “It has felt like, ‘We’re going to be doing it anyway, you just have to put up with it.’”

His four parking spaces, which cost £500 each a year, enable lorry drivers to deliver and customers to collect large items of furniture easily. But Mr Hurst believes that even when road closures aren’t outside his premises, diversions could make it hard for vehicles to reach him.

“January is the biggest month in furniture retail, and I am concerned no lorries will be able to deliver to me, and no customers will be able to find me,” he added.

Mr Hurst encountered similar works shortly after opening his doors 11 years ago. “We were told the roads would be closed five months, but it lasted 18 months,” he said.

Alun Jones of Truro Business Improvement District said members were briefed ahead of the public display. “We are fully aware of the roadworks, which are substantial and will involve full street closures,” he said.

“They are absolutely required to take place, and no time is a good time to close streets. But the works have been planned in what is the quietest period for most businesses, while recognising that not all businesses are the same.

“As with the works in St Austell Street recently, we will be working closely with Wales & West and Cornwall Council, and we expect the same cooperation to be in place for deliveries to enable businesses to operate as near to normal as possible.

“Businesses will remain open, and we urge customers to use footpaths to get to them. We also urge owners to keep in touch with us, and with Wales & West.”

The Wales & West Customer Service Team can be contacted on freephone 0800 912 2999.