There’s “hell up” in Truro after a change to parking in the city’s coach park – which has seen lucrative touring coaches and their passengers forced elsewhere – has had an economic impact on the high street.

Cornwall Council sub-lets around half of the coach spaces in the parking area behind Truro’s M&S store to Go Cornwall buses, which businesses and councillors in the city believe is forcing visiting coaches to find other destinations due to lack of parking spaces.

The council says it has actually increased the number of coach spaces in Truro, if Tregurra park and ride is considered part of the city.

Bus driver Jonathan Keam said the decision to halve the number of coach spaces was “putting two fingers up to Truro”. He said the decision caused havoc during the Hall for Cornwall’s pantomime run, when coaches blocked the Morlaix Avenue dual carriageway due to lack of room in the coach park.

“Truro is losing out as I know coaches are turning around and taking people to places like Newquay and Falmouth instead. There’s hell up,” he said.

Cllr Rob Nolan, who sits on both Truro City Council and Cornwall Council, has written to the county’s portfolio holder for transport Cllr Richard Williams-Pears lobbying to get the coaches back in the park.

In a letter to the Conservative cabinet member, Cllr Nolan (Lib Dem, Boscawen and Redannick) said: “The sub-letting of Truro Coach Park to Go Buses means that it is full of buses and coaches are unable to safely drop there. The town crier greets coaches and tells me they regularly arrive, find they can’t drop off, and take people off to Falmouth and Newquay instead. We’ve got 20 coaches carrying cruise ship passengers due shortly and are worried we’ll lose these as well.

“Apparently this was something organised during Covid and nobody noticed. Now they very definitely have noticed and retailers are hopping up and down at another blow to the high street.”

Cllr Nolan said the city council had arranged a meeting with Cornwall Council transport officers at the coach park this week to discuss the concerns. He asked Cllr Williams-Pears to “add to the lobbying” to get Go Buses to use the park and ride at Tregurra for parking, and “get coaches back into the coach park with their passengers eager to spend money in our shops, who are very keen to see them”.

Truro BID manager Alun Jones, who oversees the retail area of the city, said: “We are grateful for Cllr Nolan’s support on this matter. We fully support the Truro coach park being available to its full potential for incoming visitor coaches. To maximise our ability to safely receive the various visitor coaches, the coach operators will need access to the Truro coach park, therefore any steps taken to achieve maximum space for coaches within the coach park is welcomed.”

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “We appreciate the importance to Truro’s economy of both visiting coaches and local bus services which bring many people into the city for both work and leisure. Go Cornwall Bus (GCB) – which operates the subsidised bus network on behalf of Cornwall Council – has made use of space at Truro Coach Park since 2020. This means drivers can access GCB driver facilities as well as support staff and the Network Control hub. 

 “The agreement to use the site has recently been formalised with the introduction of new signs and parking bays in the coach park. There are five bays for GCB use, six bays for visiting coaches and another bay for the community bus.  

 “We have also increased the number of spaces available to coaches visiting Truro and improved the services for coach drivers. There are an additional ten free coach layover bays at the Tregurra Park and Ride site with drivers able to use the building’s facilities and park and ride service for free if required after dropping passengers off in the coach park. 

 “This brings the total number of coach bays available in the city from 11 to 16. We have contacted all local coach operators to advise them of the changes and initial feedback has been positive. The Confederation of Passenger Transport has shared this information with coach operators from further afield and expressed support for this decision. We will consider increasing the number of spaces available if there is a demonstrable need.“