COUNCILLORS have agreed that they will need to splash the cash on IT and broadband at the new Kings Arms Community Hub in Wellington to make it appeal to younger people.

It is hoped that the community hub at the former High Street pub will become a focal point of the town in the months and years ahead.

While the upstairs of the building has been developed into flats by Falcon Rural Housing Association, the ground floor will be used by Wellington Town Council as an area which can be used by children and adults and offer a range of services and be used by a range of different agencies.

A key element of the plans is to make it accessible and popular with younger people, but the council knows it needs to provide the proper IT equipment to make the hub a “place to go.”

A discussion ensued at the council’s community committee on July 21 when Cllr Justin Cole questioned the amount of money which had been spent on internet technology.

A budget report showed that a total of nearly £15,000 had been spent on IT issues in the set-up costs for the King’s Arms community hub.

A further report said that if around 25 people wanted to connect to the hub’s Wi-Fi at any given time, it had proven difficult to obtain a connection with enough line speed and bandwidth. Initial quotations direct from BT were in the region of £700 per month, the report stated.

Cllr Cole said: “Why do we need that level of IT in here? Is it really needed or do we need to be ramping up the Wi-Fi?”

The council budget for the hub for 2025-26 was set earlier in the year at just £18,000, at a time when councillors did not know the true costs, and so, Cllr Justin Cole said it appeared that “a big chunk of the budget” would be taken up with IT support and Wi-Fi.

But Cllr John Thorne said the community hub would need better broadband to cope with the expected usage.

He warned that if there were “two dozen children” in the building all using their electronic devices and the hub had sub-standard broadband, it would “crash” the system.

“We would be offering free use in the first year to get people in here,” Cllr Thorne said. “But we do need good broadband. If we don’t have it – we won’t get people coming in.”

The council’s community development officer, Laura Batcha, told councillors she would look into the internet and technology issues.

Although the hub has initially been described as a “one stop shop” for people wanting help with various services and information, councillors have suggested that that is not 100 per cent true and that it is more of a place where members of the local community can be pointed in the right direction for support if issues cannot be dealt with there.