Dear Editor,

I am delighted to have just heard the splendid news that Wellington is to receive government funding to build our new railway station. This is the culmination of a long period of excellent work by our very able MP Gideon Amos supported by the people of our town and the immediate area.

I was also delighted to join a cross section of our community’s residents at the recent London lobby to support Gideon and our bid for the station. I sincerely hope the town will continue to work together on causes that will benefit us all.

Therefore it is also gratifying that in only the past few days Wellington Town Council endorsed the work that has been undertaken over the past ten months by a small private working party led by me that has been examining the case for a scheduled minibus service throughout Wellington. The building of the new station means, as our bus project has now been officially recognised as a working party for the Council, we can now examine how we might integrate our proposed town bus services into the station as a ‘transport hub’. This is very exciting and I am pleased to be able to continue this work with my small band of volunteers in the next year.

If any readers are interested in contributing to the integrated transport project either with comments or perhaps even joining our numbers to offer ideas or help with fact-finding you are welcome to contact me on [email protected]

Again, well done Gideon and his team.

Councillor Steve Mercer

Wellington Town Council

Dear Editor,

Phew...by the skin of our teeth, a brand new railway station for Wellington!

All good news, but we in Wellington would do well to remember that this decision in our favour is due in no small part to the considerable efforts made by our 'newish' MP for Taunton and Wellington, Gideon Amos. Yes, there has undoubtedly been pressure on all sides from local residents as well as both Wellington Town and Somerset Councils and others to get confirmation of the new station for the town, but Mr Amos has very much spearheaded efforts and brought up the subject at Westminster on any and every available occasion.

On July 4, he will be celebrating a year since his landslide election triumph here in Taunton and Wellington, and I can't think of a better way to recognise his tireless efforts on behalf of all his constituents over the last 11 months, than to be able to announce this hugely important outcome.

A job very well done!

J F Pocock

Wellington

Dear Editor,

I write to express my absolute delight that finally Wellington will get its long dreamed of rail station. I welcome the Chancellors’ recognition of the fact that since all the complicated ground work and planning had been done for this station, it would have been madness not to agree the final step in allocating the very last tranche of public funds to build the station which the previous government had committed to.

Politics is a tumultuous business and like it or not one needs a thick skin. Nevertheless, it was surprising that the Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington failed to mention the many years of dedicated work carried out by my office with the support of the previous government to make the Wellington station a reality. Whilst the idea of a station in the town had been talked about for decades it was the priority the Conservative government gave to opening new stations, with funding to support those making a convincing business case, that catalysed action here.

The success of the project is testament to the hard work and determination of so many people for over nine years, amongst them: GWR, Network Rail, the Local Enterprise Partnership, local councils including Wellington Town Council, the Parliamentary team and indeed support from the whole town, thousands of whom signed my petition and attended the public meeting I held to gauge interest back in 2016. This phenomenal effort means that what was once a pipe dream is now a reality and I am certainly proud to have had the chance to play my part. It will be a tremendous boost to the town of Wellington.

Rebecca Pow

MP Taunton Deane 2015–2024

Dear Editor,

Was last week’s power outage across Wellington part of Russia's wargaming?

UK military chiefs give us five years tops before we find ourselves at war with Russia, while government has called for a national conversation on the subject.

We witnessed during the COVID pandemic how unprepared government bodies were to cope with an unfolding crisis.

Is Wellington prepared for the war that is coming?

The people of Ukraine were not interested in war, but they found to their cost that war became interested in them.

Better that we dust off old Cold War-era civil contingency plans and start the conversation now than sit back and await the arrival of the first missiles, by which time it will be too late.

C Penney

Wellington