Newquay on Cornwalls north coast is a town of contrasts, a town with different meanings for different groups. For some its home, where people try to make ends meet, for others it’s a location for pleasure and fun while others regard it as ideal for extracting wealth and money.
In reality there are three Newquays – the town of local and new residents; the up-market islands of high value properties, concentrated in the coastal section; and, to the east and south-east a sprawl of new developments eating up farmland like a ravenous beast. This includes land developed for the Duchy of Cornwall in the 'Nansledan’ urban extension. Despite the governments misplaced obsession that planning holds back development, Newquay has been and is on a building spree. Oddly with all the housing being built there is still a housing problem!
A number of future posts will examine what Newquay is, looking at what is happening, how it is changing and what the implications are. In essence Newquay represents the failure of both planning and housing policy, one of many locations where this is evident yet here somewhat magnified. Alternative policy options will therefore be explored.
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