Hi, I live in Newquay between Trenance and the Mayfield areas.
To be honest I wouldn't want to live as far out as St Columb Minor but your circumstances might be different if you don't mind the walk/don't mind paying for buses or taxis or you don't think you'll have that much interest in coming into town regularly?
What I love about living where we do is that we are not so close to town that it's noisy or parking is difficult but we are close enough that we never ever drive into town or to the local beaches/pubs etc, we always walk so are hardly ever really affected by the traffic and lack of parking in the summer.
Taxis and buses can be quite expensive unless you are entitled to free bus passes then you should be fine as buses are generally not very busy (we're in our thirties so no free bus passes for us yet, although I hope they are still around in the future for us).
They are building a new, bigger Co op near to St Columb Minor, which should be handy for you, I'm not sure if the small, existing one will close when the new one opens. There is a post office nearby on Henver Road too. There is a pub in St Columb Minor too, the Farmer's Arms which is quite a nice traditional pub.
If I didn't drive and was thinking about retirement then I would prefer to be within a shorter walking distance of the town so that I could continue to walk to the pub, restaurants, the cinema, events at the Killacourt, the beaches, etc without always having to pay for taxis or rely on buses.
However, prices in Newquay are rising rapidly so if there is nothing else available closer in in your price range at the moment then you might be best off buying what you can now and considering moving again within Newquay sooner rather than later. If money is an issue then I wouldn't delay moving if there is something you can afford, everything is getting snapped up at the moment,it's crazy.