RESIDENTS’ hopes for a climate friendly Wellington by 2025 have fallen short, as their plans, drawn up in 2010, aren’t met.

In April 2010, Taunton Deane’s Local Strategic Partnership worked with Taunton’s Transition Town voluntary group to lead a series of workshops to help residents consider the potential impacts of climate change on their way of living.

The following May, Transition Town Wellington met to discuss the same issue and together, they produced a document envisioning a green, low carbon Wellington for 2025.

The groups’ approach in producing this report “wasn’t of doom and gloom” they said, “but to foster a response to the challenges they faced at a community level.”

Among their hopes were a local knitting co-op that only used local wool, a Wellington wind farm, composting toilets, a community bartering centre, solar panels on every roof, and horse and cart only parking bays.

Also envisioned were changes to legislation, banning bottled water, tumble dryers, and oil and gas central heating, as well as marking the town’s sustainability efforts with the big “Christmas switch-off”, as opposed to the current annual event in Wellington, the Christmas lights switch-on.

Despite these short falls, Chairman of Transition Town Wellington, Anita Roy says there have been some successes, including a new fleet of electric buses, a new community farm, and a “fabulous” green corridor.

It was also announced this morning (June 12) that the hoped for Wellington railway station has received the go-ahead from Chancellor Rachel Reeves after the Treasury confirmed that the spending review would provide funding to support its reopening.

Anita said: “This report is a bit of a TARDIS allowing us to time-travel back 15 years to hear what people then thought today's Wellington would look like.

“Sustainable, resilient, single-use plastic-free, with water harvesting, community composting and loads of locally grown food. Sounds brilliant! Who wouldn’t want to live there?

“I am hugely grateful to these pioneering visioners for kickstarting the Transition movement here, and to all those who, with ingenuity and creativity, are still helping to shape a better, more inclusive and resilient town for future generations.”

Secretary for Transition Town Wellington, Kate Holloway said: “It has been interesting re reading this report; it seems a long time ago that I sat with a number of people in the Church Hall and discussed what we would hope to see in 2025.

“Such a lot has happened that we could never have imagined, in particular the COVID Pandemic and war in Europe which has had a massive impact on all of us.

“From TTW’s point of view the main successes in the last 15 years have been the growth in community spaces where we can grow food, support each other and care for wildlife.

“The partnership with the Wellington Town Council, who now cares for 65 acres for the benefit of people, wildlife and the climate has also been very positive.

“Is it time to have another Visioning Event?”