Newquay e-scooter trial: the zones, and how to have your say

If you’ve got strong feelings about the e-scooters buzzing around Newquay, here’s the part most people posting about it online have missed. None of those comments count.

Newquay BID says opinion on the trial has been mixed, with plenty of debate playing out in local reporting and on social media. But none of that discussion feeds into the official decision on what happens to the scheme next. That only happens through one channel, and it closes on 1 January 2027.

What the pink zone actually covers

A newly published map from Cormac, the highways contractor working with Cornwall Council, sets out exactly where the Beryl e-scooter trial is allowed to operate. The shaded pink area stretches across most of the town, from Crantock Beach in the west, through the town centre, and out towards Trevemper and Trenance to the east. The key on the map is specific about what that colour means: it marks the extent of the trial area, “only where cycles are allowed”.

Inside that pink zone, more than twenty green markers show where Beryl’s own parking bays sit, spread right across the town rather than clustered in one spot.

Where scooters can’t go, and where they have to slow down

Two smaller zones break up the main pink area. A purple patch close to Hendra Holiday Park is marked as a full exclusion zone, somewhere riders are not permitted at all under the trial. A separate orange patch near Bank Street and Concrete Waves is marked as a “go-slow” zone, an area where scooters are allowed but expected to travel more carefully.

Neither zone comes with further explanation on the map itself, so anyone wanting the reasoning behind those particular boundaries will need to raise it through the consultation.

How to actually make your view count

Whether you want the trial expanded, scrapped, or left exactly as it is, the process for saying so is the same. You can scan the QR code printed on the official consultation notice, or go directly to Let’s Talk Cornwall and respond online.

If you’d rather put it in writing, comments and objections, with the grounds for them, can be sent to Cormac Infrastructure Design, Corserv Solutions Ltd, Radnor Road, Scorrier, Redruth, TR16 5EH. Questions can go to [email protected] or 01872 327 250. The full draft proposals and plans are also available to view in person at New County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, TR1 3AY, during normal office hours.

Newquay BID is asking residents, businesses and anyone who uses the town to pass the details on, whichever side of the debate they’re on. Just quote the reference Infra26-055_SN02 on anything you send.