THE City Council is supporting a plan to provide a bridge between Truro’s Lighterage Quay and Boscawen Park, and is asking Truro Town Deal Board and Cornwall Council to treat it as a key priority project when making decisions on allocating funding.

Members at last week’s meeting of the full council backed a motion put forward by Cllr Loic Rich to back the bridge project.

Explaining that the proposal had been under discussion for several years, Cllr Rich said it would encourage residents and families to walk and cycle more and connect businesses and Newham and leisure opportunities in Boscawen Park.

Members were told that the project was being funded through the Truro Town Deal programme with support from Cornwall Council and would be operated by the Harbour Authority, meaning the City Council would have no responsibilities for constructing, operating or maintaining the bridge.

Other matters discussed by the Full Council included the Truro Town Deal Lemon Quay Scheme to encourage the use of this space by staging more events to increase footfall, helping traders and generate more income to the local economy.

To support this, a £50,000 grant has been offered to meet the costs of employing a new events co-ordinator to support the work of the City Council’s existing events team and Visit Truro for the next two years, and to create a new central booking system and develop a strategy to ensure visitors are encouraged to explore the wider city. 

Members also discussed the new weight restriction for vehicles accessing Lemon Quay, recently introduced by Cornwall Council’s highways team following an inspection of the culverts which run under the quay. A limit of 7.5 tonnes per vehicle has been introduced from the Drummer up to the top of the quay, with a restriction of 18 tonnes per vehicle for the bottom half of the Quay. Members were reassured this would not affect the majority of activities using Lemon Quay, including the farmers’ and Christmas markets.

Finally, members agreed to co-opt Zach Griffiths (Labour & Cooperative party) onto the city council.