A long-running Cornish coastal path near Newquay has been fenced off by Bluechip Hotels Ltd after the developer bought land near the Glendorgal Headland and built houses and holiday homes on the site, replacing an old hotel. Local residents Clare and Matt Kennedy-Smith, who had walked the route for over 20 years to mark family occasions, found a locked gate in May 2026, later replaced with a steel barrier bearing "Keep Out" and "Private Land" signs, ending decades of public access to a stretch used for family walks, dog-walking and reaching the beach. The case reflects a wider pattern highlighted by the article of wealthy landowners restricting access to stretches of Britain's coastline that had traditionally been open to the public.

The Kennedy-Smiths launched a campaign and website after learning how many others valued the path, receiving hundreds of messages describing marriage proposals, ash-scattering ceremonies and wedding photographs taken there, as well as accounts from a paramedic and fishermen who relied on it. Bluechip Hotels owner Seamus Redmond, who secured conditional planning permission for the £9.5 million redevelopment, insists there was no public right of way and has suggested objectors buy one of the new properties, priced from £395,000, to gain access instead. The dispute comes despite the King's official opening in March of the King Charles III England Coast Path, a continuous 2,689-mile trail intended to guarantee coastal access across England.