The rising bollard in the centre of Falmouth is being recommended to be moved to the entrance of Market Street - stopping vehicles from entering between 11am and 4pm.

At a town council committee meeting on Monday night, councillors were asked to decide whether they wanted to move the bollard from its current position at the entrance to Church Street or just have enhanced signage at the site.

Members of the grounds, facilities & environmental action committee recommended that the bollard was moved by a vote of 4 to 3.

Moving the bollard means the entrance to Church Street car park will be blocked between 11am and 4pm.

John Spargo said whatever they do it has got to work. "I don't see improved signage and stuff working," he said.

Committee chair Cllr Jayne Kirkham said that the police knew they should be enforcing the regulations for no vehicles between the hours of 11am and 4pm and had promised to do so.

Deputy mayor Kirsty Edwards said she was in favour of the signage rather than the bollard. “Part of the issue is that people say they can’t see it [the current signs] so if you make it very obvious that seems like a reasonable solution if the money’s there to do it,” she said.

Replying, Cllr Spargo said: “If the bollard’s there you have to read the signs. You need something to force people to read the signs because if you don’t they’ll just drive through as they have done for years.”

Falmouth mayor Steve Eva agreed saying some drivers had been abusing the system for years.

“It doesn’t matter where the sign is,” he said. “If the bollard’s working then people can’t drive through, it’s as simple as that.”

However Cllr Edwards said if you have the bollard you restrict the access to the Church Street car park between 11am and 4pm, but Cllr Kirkham pointed out that had been the case for a while.

Cormac has asked for advice from Cornwall Council on moving the rising bollard from the entrance of Church Street where it currently is to Market Street.

Along with this there will be a series of gateway improvements such as, new signage, lining, planters, seating and a clear crossing point.

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The improvements to the entrance to Falmouth town centre is to fall in line with making the current Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) permanent. It is currently going through Cornwall Council’s planning process.

Along with moving the bollard the application says there will be a series of gateway improvements such as, new signage, lining, planters, seating and a clear crossing point.

An Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) is like a Permanent Traffic Regulation Order - it is a legal document which imposes traffic and parking restrictions. ETROs are used to see if a scheme will work in practice.

The 'pedestrianisation' of Falmouth town centre during the hours of 11am to 4pm is part of plan to make Falmouth Town Centre more user friendly.