A FORMER mayor has said that one of Wellington’s biggest plus points in attracting visitors to the town is its “friendliness.”

Members of Wellington Town Council’s economic development committee met earlier this month where they were looking at what could be done to entice more people to the area.

Cllr Mark Lithgow said: “One of our biggest assets is the friendliness of the town – it’s a free asset. We have people from across the area coming to Wellington.”

But Cllr Steve Mercer said efforts could be made to tidy up the town centre and asked if traders could get involved.

“Is Wellington the sort of place people will visit to enjoy its ambience? he asked at the committee meeting on June 11. “I asked someone and they said the town was a bit scruffy.

“Is there a way where we could ask shopkeepers to work together to make the town more attractive? I’m not criticising shopkeepers because I know they have a lot to do and things are difficult.

“But it’s not just the town council that needs to work on this - the town’s traders need to do so as well.”

The council’s chief executive and town clerk, Dave Farrow, in responding to Cllr Mercer, said: “I would guarantee that a lot of shopkeepers rent their premises so probably wouldn’t be keen on spending money to improve somebody else’s building.”

Cllr Mercer added: “I appreciate it is the landlords’ responsibility to keep their premises neat and tidy.”

Cllr Lithgow said: “Some of the buildings are in desperate straits, but the problem we’ve got is that they are in private ownership.”

Cllr Keith Wheatley said any successful “vibrant town centre” relied on lots of shops and hospitality outlets.

“We can nurture and encourage a vibrant street culture here in Wellington,” he said. “But I don’t think we need to get too hung up on the bits of ugliness that we aren’t in a position to fix.”

Mr Farrow, sensing there was a bit of criticism about the town centre, said: “I think we as a council work very hard to keep our town looking smart and attractive.”

The mayor of Wellington, Cllr Janet Lloyd, quipped: “You just have to go up the road to Taunton to see how wonderful we are!”

Cllr Lloyd added: “I know the council officers have been very busy and have been over-worked, but I remember that several years ago we looked at a national funding scheme to spruce up shop fronts.”

Mr Farrow said the council’s new community development officer, Laura Batcha, who only started in the job in May, would be looking at how to access extra funding for the town.

Cllr Lithgow added: “The best we’ve got in our toolkit is Laura and we need to be patient and see what she can come up with.”

The discussion came after committee chairman Cllr Chris Booth suggested about a possible working group to consider a holistic approach to what the council wanted from the town centre.