Lack of coach parking a nightmare - town crier

A mixture of visiting coaches and local buses parked at Truro coach park

A decision to allow buses to park in Truro's coach park has been criticised for its potential impact on tourism.

Truro town crier Lionel Knight welcomes coach parties to the city from Wednesday to Saturday.

He said the decision to allow buses to park in the coach park was "a nightmare" and coach drivers were looking elsewhere due to a lack of parking.

Cornwall Council has said the overall number of coach parking spaces had increased from 11 to 16 with additional bays elsewhere in the city.

'Disappointing'

During the pandemic, when there was a lack of visiting coaches, the council agreed to allow Go Cornwall Bus (GCB) to use five of the spaces in the city’s coach park.

But Mr Knight said the arrival of cruise ship passengers in recent weeks had highlighted a lack of available spaces.

"On Monday we had the same with cruise ship visitors again – another 20 coaches – and there were drivers kicking up again because of the lack of space," he said.

"Some of the passengers had to be offloaded on the road and the coaches went up to the park and ride, which is a bit of a problem.

"It's a nightmare.

"I’ve spoken to a lot of drivers over the last few weeks and they said if that’s what Truro wants then they’ll go on to Falmouth and other places."

Town clerk David Rodda said Truro City Council was only made aware of Cornwall Council’s decision recently and had no knowledge of it before signs were installed "which is disappointing to say the least".

Increased spaces

Cornwall Council said last week it would increase the number of spaces "if there is a demonstrable need".

"There are five bays for GCB use, six bays for visiting coaches and another bay for the community bus," it said.

"We have also increased the number of spaces available to coaches visiting Truro and improved the services for coach drivers.

"There are an additional 10 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."