The recent grant of £100,000 to be spent as a ‘recovery pot’ on projects of Wellington’s own choosing to rejuvenate the town centre and high street has been fantastic news and we are all immensely grateful to the SWT district council for its foresight in making this sum available, particularly in view of the unprecedented circumstances associated with the pandemic.

If spent thoughtfully and to maximum effect it is hoped it will prove a real ‘shot-in-the-arm’ to our whole town community, not just the town centre.

Which brings me on to the ideas being considered as to how we spend the sum. The WWN recently gave extensive coverage to discussion on creating a ‘town square’ outside the old post office, thus giving us a chance to ‘green the area’ with planting, new seating and a space for outdoor entertainment of various kinds. But, while this proposal clearly has many positive aspects, an obvious downside would be that it is difficult to see how road traffic could be diverted from the area in a safe and achievable way.

So, as a viable alternative, several other suggestions which have been carefully researched – particularly by myself as chairman of the active Wellington Town Centre Working Committee – would include a group of smaller projects which could prove an equally worthwhile improvement to the town if all were developed in tandem.

The list of other proposals is:

A thorough refurbishment of the town centre’s currently shabby pedestrian safety railings.

Some well-designed, attractive signage directing visitors to local areas of interest like the park, the Basins, Tonedale and the town museum.

Along with new railings the widened pavement area outside the Co-op supermarket needs a fresh seating scheme, plant containers and bike racks.

Look into possibility of employing professional marketing to help attract shoppers, visitors and outdoor performance entertainers to the town centre.

Wellington Town Council invites any member of the public – residents, business owners – to contact the town clerk with other comments and suggestions via our website, www.wellingtontowncouncil.co.uk

Mark Lithgow

Chairman of WTC Working Committee