PEOPLE stepping off the train at the new planned Wellington Railway Station will be greeted by an attractive-looking “welcome to the town”, councillors have declared.

The opening of the planned and long-awaited station in the Longforth Farm area has been put back to the spring/summer of 2026, but there are concerns that the £15m budget development might not stretch to include the “nice things to have.” 

Members of Wellington Town Council said on Monday (April 8) that they do not want people – some of whom may be visiting the area for the first time – coming out of the station and walking into just a mundane and unattractive car park.

They want to give visitors a fantastic “first impression” and have agreed to make the area look as smart as possible.

A report by town clerk Dave Farrow explained that Network Rail was responsible for developing and submitting plans for the railway station and car park area and West of England Developments for the associated housing development down from Taunton Road to the planned station.

But councillors were told that it had become apparent that Network Rail was – not unreasonably – focussing on delivering a functional railway station and nothing more; putting at risk other elements of the original concept of developing a “gateway to Wellington.”

West of England Developments has agreed to construct the infrastructure for a planned Station Square outside of the railway station such as drainage and underground services, but additional facilities like benches, bins and signs will need to be funded from elsewhere … and that is where Wellington Town Council has decided it wants to step in.

The council has a £22,500 budget for the station and that will increase to £30,000 in 2025-26.

Cllr Ross Henley said: “I’m passionate about this, but I do get frustrated when I hear people saying that the station will never happen. But I think it will happen and it needs to happen.

“We need to make that station as nice as possible. Some of the stations I’ve visited over the years are beautiful.

“We need to take this project head on and take some ownership.”

Cllr John Thorne said: “I think we should be having the “nice to have” things at the station.”

Cllr Justin Cole said: “What is the vision here? Are we wanting to building something which is like a gateway to Wellington or just having a station?”

Planning officer Simon Fox said: “We want people to feel welcomed when they arrive at Wellington rather than them just stepping off the train and into a car park, but we are obviously impeded by the budget.

“If Wellington Town Council didn’t want to take this on I’m not really sure where else I could go.”

A working group has been set-up by the town council which will feature Cllrs Ross Henley, Mark Lithgow, Mike McGuffie and John Thorne who will meet with planning officer Simon Fox and the West of England developers on a regular basis.