Truro Waterside Investment Pressing Forward with New Year Start For Harbour and Quays Plans

Works to revitalise Truro’s Lemon and Town Quays will break ground in early 2026 while exciting plans for Lighterage Bridge also continue to move forward, together forming plans to re-connect people with the city’s waterside.

One of seven Truro Town Deal projects, the ‘Harbour and Lemon Quay’ scheme will deliver investment across the public realm including an enhanced event space with projector, new lighting and green landscaped areas at Lemon Quay; a new day boat pontoon, dredging and access improvements at Town Quay; new subway lighting; Garras Wharf pathway enhancements and of course, Lighterage Bridge.

Reinvigorating our waterfront into vibrant, attractive and green spaces, and reconnecting people with the water is a key objective in the Truro Town Investment Plan  which secured £23.6 million of Town Deal funding for Truro in 2021. The Truro Town Deal Board then allocated up to £10.4million for the Harbour and Lemon Quay scheme with a further £1.28 million from Cornwall Council.

In January next year, Lemon Quay is scheduled to be the first waterside area to begin its refresh with works expected to last three months, to include:

• enhanced events space with a projector and improved lighting to encourage use and improve safety.
• green landscape areas including newly planted trees and soft landscaping to improve its visual appearance and biodiversity.
• improved provision of benches and street furniture.
• enhanced cycle parking provision to encourage green travel, linking in with the Town Deal funded Green Transport investment.

Alongside public realm enhancements, Truro City Council is working on its new Events Strategy for Lemon Quay. In response to a recent survey, over 1800 people shared their thoughts on how the event space on Lemon Quay should be used and the results of this survey will be used to shape the strategy. 

Whilst the results of the survey are still being considered there was overwhelming support for more events as they would encourage people to come into Truro to spend their leisure time.  86% of all respondents (who lived in the city or who had visited Truro) would like to see food markets, 77% would like to see craft markets and/or street food markets, 74% would like to see music on the quay and over 60% would like to see cultural and heritage events staged on the Lemon Quay.

Also anticipated for January 2026, is the submission of a pre-application for a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) to the Department for Transport for Lighterage Bridge.

The TWAO is required to alter the rights of navigation for the Truro River and is an extensive piece of work requiring surveys to inform an Environmental Statement. It is anticipated the full application for the TWAO will be submitted spring 2026. 

In order to account for the extended period required for environmental and statutory approvals, Cornwall Council has taken steps to safeguard the delivery of Lighterage Bridge beyond the spending period for Town Deal funding. This has been enabled by making cost neutral adjustments across the portfolio of Town Deal projects in Cornwall.

In spring 2026 Town Quay works, including the former Compton Castle area, subway access and Garras Wharf, are anticipated to begin and include:

• dredging of working quays.
• installing a new day boat/dinghy pontoon.
• surfacing works, access improvements & flag poles at Town Quay.
• improvement works to the former Compton Castle area.
• a more welcoming subway including lighting and imagery.
• Garras Wharf pathway enhancements.
• provision of cycle parking.

In late spring dredging work is expected to begin. This will lengthen the ‘tidal window’ which is the time when vessels have sufficient under-keel clearance to safely navigate waters, meaning more vessels can explore and enjoy the city and for longer.

With strong public support, the Truro Town Deal Board and Cornwall Council have staunchly maintained their commitment to the Harbour and Lemon Quay scheme in the face of continued cost pressures across the construction industry; reviewing and refining options to fit a budget which due to the impact of inflation has reduced by a third.

Alan Stanhope, Truro Town Deal Board Chair, said: “We are all living and working in a very different financial place to that of 2021 when the Truro Town Investment Plan was published but Truro Town Deal remains committed to delivering on local aspirations for the city. Our plans continue to evolve to meet financial pressures and remain true to the vision and spirit of the Town Investment Plan.”

Tim Dwelly, Cornwall Council Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Economy, said: “Town Deal has created a fantastic opportunity to make real changes to Truro that will benefit residents and visitors alike.  I am grateful for the hard work of everyone and look forward to seeing these plans help breathe new life into the city.”