THE future of Wellington Carnival – whether it will be staged or not – could be decided at an emergency general meeting at the Beambridge Inn this evening (Wednesday).

Carnival chairman Sharon Collins, who will be stepping down at the meeting, said last night: “I am not hopeful anyone is going to come forward to replace me – or the secretary. Nothing has changed since last month.

“I don’t want to see the carnival die – but I cannot carry on. One of the reasons is I live too far away (Ottery St Mary) and it needs someone who lives locally. They need to live in the town or in one of the nearby villages. One or two people have contacted me to say they will be at the meeting but we’ll wait and see.”

Sharon says she will give her full reasons for stepping down at the meeting. She has already revealed that she received abusive phone calls regarding road closures at the last carnival which she could have ‘done without’.

In a statement released towards the end of last month she said: “If we are unsuccessful in recruiting a chairman and secretary there will be no Wellington Carnival for 2020. If you are interested in carnival and keeping a long-standing tradition in the town going, please come along to the Beambridge, we would love to meet you.”

Sharon says that as a director of Wellington (Somerset) Carnival Committee, she has a commitment to remain while the handover takes place – the person taking over would not be left to ‘go it alone’.

It has already been announced that Wellington Street Fair will be going ahead on Sunday, June 7, and plans for this are well under way.