The finishing touches are being made to Camborne Renew, the locally shaped scheme to revitalise the appearance of the town centre, improve access for people walking and cycling and support local business by encouraging people to spend more time in the town. Once completed, the scheme will mark the conclusion of the town’s wider Town Deal Transport Project.
Aimed at regenerating the heart of Camborne and transforming the town into a visually appealing, accessible place to live, work, shop and visit, the Transport Project comprised two separate schemes: Camborne Renew and Camborne Lifecycle. The project was awarded £4.6m from the Government’s Town Deal programme and £1,2m from Cornwall Council. The works have been carried out by Cormac.
Work on Camborne Lifecycle was completed at the end of 2025. This scheme, aimed at ensuring that the local community can travel safely between key sites in and around Camborne and the centre of the town, provides 3.7km of enhanced walking and cycling routes linking the town centre and residential areas to surrounding green spaces, including the Red River Trail, Tehidy Woods, North Cliffs and Godrevy, the Great Flat Lode Mineral Tramways and Tuckingmill Valley Park. Lifecycle received £1.7 million of Town Deal funding and £326k match funding from Cornwall Council.
By encouraging more people to cycle or walk and cut down on car journeys, the Lifecycle scheme is supporting healthier living for Camborne residents and visitors and is also helping to improve air quality in and around the town centre.
Work on Camborne Renew began in November 2025. The project received £2.9m from the Town Deal programme and £800k match funding from Cornwall Council.
Designed following extensive engagement with the local community, the scheme focused on improving the public realm and user experience of the town centre by:
- Improving pedestrian crossings throughout Trelowarren Street,
- A new zebra crossing at Fore St.
- Extending on-street free parking at the top of Trelowarren Street from 30 minutes to an hour,
- Repairing paving defects in Commercial Square,
- installing enhanced lighting and CCTV and
- Providing secure cycle parking.
- Adding new seating and plant greenery
While the works were predominantly carried out on Trelowarren Street and Commercial Square, the scheme also included measures to enhance the character of adjoining streets to complement the overall project.
New seating, benches, cycle stands, bins, planters and other features have been provided across the town, helping to create welcoming spaces for people to meet, rest and spend time in the town centre. Granite slab paving has been used as part of the scheme, together with tactile paving, designed to improve accessibility for the visually impaired, in key areas. Imprint paving, an attractive block-textured finish on tarmac that is durable and lower maintenance, has been installed along the main street.
With the scheme now nearing completion, members of Camborne Town Deal Board and Camborne Town Council joined representatives of the Camborne Transport Town Deal Project team, local councillors and officers from Cornwall Council and Cormac for a tour of the measures.
As well as seeing the results of the different elements of the scheme, the event provided an opportunity for the partners to talk with some of the local residents and businesses who are benefiting from the improvements.
Val Dalley, Chair of the Camborne Town Deal Board, said: “The changes have made a real and very positive difference to the town centre. I’m grateful to Cormac for minimising disruption as much as possible and to Cornwall Council for providing one hour of free parking in Rosewarne Car Park whilst the works were in progress. Camborne Renew has always been a key Town Deal project and I’m delighted to see the finished result.”
Kieren Couch, project lead, said “This project has always been about more than delivering physical improvements; it has been about listening and responding to the community who have been instrumental in shaping a town centre that works better for everyone.
“We recognise that works of this nature inevitably cause disruption, particularly for residents and businesses, and we are grateful for the patience and support shown throughout. The result is a more welcoming, accessible and connected Camborne, creating an environment that will benefit the town now and for years to come.”
With the scheme focusing in and around the town centre, the works were phased to minimise disruption on those living or operating businesses in the area at the same as delivering a high-quality scheme in an acceptable time frame.
Specific measures included temporarily pausing the works at the end of November to enable the town’s festive events to take place without interruption, and ensuring that the road was clear and open for Trevithick Day. Following Trevithick Day, work then restarted on delivering the remaining elements of the scheme. Pedestrian access was maintained throughout the whole period, with access for deliveries provided as close to individual businesses as possible.
One hour of free parking was also introduced at the Rosewarne car parks at the beginning of January to help support businesses and the local community while the highways works were carried out in the town centre. This came to an end at the beginning of July, with 14,757 people benefiting from the offer during the six months period.
“We are proud to have worked alongside Cornwall Council, the Camborne Town Deal Board, BID Camborne and the local community to deliver this important project in Camborne town centre” said Steve Worthington, Cormac’s Business Director for Infrastructure. “The scheme has improved accessibility, enhanced the public realm areas and created more welcoming spaces for people to visit spend time in Camborne – and has been a fantastic opportunity for Cormac to help bring the community’s vision to life.
“We would like to thank everyone for their patience, co-operation and support during the construction works.”
The Camborne Renew and Camborne LifeCycle schemes are part of the Camborne Town Deal Transport Project, one of 10 Town Deal funded projects which are aimed at regenerating the heart of Camborne and transforming the town into a visually appealing, accessible place to live, work, shop and visit.
