WELLINGTON Town Council are proposing to install a new £35,000 CCTV system, and leaving gates unlocked at night, in a new effort to tackle vandalism in the park.

Having taken ownership of Wellington Park at the beginning of April, the town council has continued Somerset Council’s practice of locking the park overnight and has made efforts to address the “poor” condition that the park came to them in by repairing benches and the shelter, improving the beds, fixing the fountain, and painting over “offensive” bandstand graffiti.

While there has been a reduction in the amount of damage to park structures and benches, the council say, they have continued to see damage to flowerbeds, with plants being pulled up and, on one occasion, the fountain bowls being filled with soil.

According to council chief executive, Dave Farrow, all vandalism events are reported to the police but, due to the current lack of evidence as to who the perpetrators may be, the police have been unable to take action.

Dave said: “The reality is that a lot of the vandalism is taking place at night, when young people gather at the shelter or in the bandstand, as well as during the day.

“It is apparent that the locking of the Park serves no security purpose as it can still be easily accessed by climbing over the relatively low fencing on Courtland Road or up the Ha-ha from the Recreation Ground.”

To tackle the ongoing vandalism, Wellington Town Council have proposed to cease locking the park, and to install a new CCTV system which is expected to cost around £35,000. The new system of seven cameras would not be monitored 24/7, but would be able to provide the police with footage when needed.

The council say there is no budget currently allocated to cover these costs, although a back-up park security budget of £30,000 and the cost savings of ceasing to lock the park may be contributed towards installing the CCTV system.

The council has also proposed that a new shelter is installed on the Recreation Ground to deter young people from vandalising the park infrastructure.

“It is often argued that young people have nowhere to go in the evening and that the only shelter is in the Park,” Dave Farrow explained.

“On that basis, alongside the security proposals, we are proposing that a youth shelter is installed on the Recreation Ground utilising the base where the skate ramps used to be situated.

“Shelters are available with solar panels and charging points which would enable it to be lit and be somewhere where phones could be charged.”

The new shelter is expected to cost between a further £5,000 and £10,000.

The council will consider the changes to the park’s security and the installation of the additional shelter at the Planning and Full Council Meeting on Monday, June 2, at 6pm, at the United Reformed Church, Fore Street.