THE lead officer of Wellington Town Council has said that “community” is at the centre of everything the authority is trying to achieve.

Chief executive and town clerk Dave Farrow said in the council’s annual report that the authority worked with various other agencies and organisations for the good of the local community.

He told the council’s annual parish meeting which was held on May 28 that he was really looking forward to seeing the new community hub project in the formers Kings Arms building in the High Street come to fruition and become a base for many local groups and services.

Mr Farrow, in a report, said: “The Kings Arms Community Hub project is almost completed and it is hoped that services will start to be delivered through it in July 2025.

“Thanks are due to Falcon Rural Housing for all the work they have done to get the ground floor to a habitable state.

“The hub will be used to deliver youth provision and act as a place for service delivery for voluntary groups and statutory agencies and an information hub to signpost people to other support.”

Mr Farrow said the town council was an important part of local democracy and the tier of government closest to local people - especially since the creation of the Somerset Council unitary authority in 2022 and the abolition of the district councils.

“Councillors and staff continue to work hard to encourage social inclusion and engagement with the widest possible range of residents,” he said.

“The council is the lead local delivery organisation for the Somerset Council Community Connect programme which is a partnership between the town council, Somerset Council, Somerset NHS, voluntary, community, faith and social enterprises and schools, colleges and early years settings to enable all professionals and community groups to work together to help families and residents to improve their lives.”

Mr Farrow said one of the biggest achievements the council gained in 2024-25 was successfully opposing the closure of two properties for the over-55s owned by Abbeyfield – Ivy House and The Old Vicarage.

Abbeyfield had announced their intention to close the two properties in May 2023. But in March 2025 Abbeyfield announced that it had changed its decision and that the two properties would now remain open and that it would be investing in them.

Mr Farrow said: “The council ensured that during this time the residents had access to advice through Citizens Advice and other specialists and continually challenged Abbeyfield on the information it was providing and the basis on which it had made its decision.”

He said the council continued to comment on planning matters and, in particular, on the impact on local facilities of proposed larger developments that are coming on stream in the coming years.

“As things stand there are currently eight proposed developments at various stages of the planning process totalling almost 1,800 houses,” he said. “The recent Somerset Call for Sites process is likely to yield more development sites in the town.”