Something that seems to unite everyone who lives in and around Wellington is a strong feeling that the Taunton Deane district council tends to make decisions that favour Taunton rather than the smaller towns. “Poor relation syndrome”, in other words.
That may be about to change. Under a Westminster initiative called the Localism Act, town and parish councils can set up a Neighbourhood Plan. Once supported by a referendum of residents, the district council cannot legally ignore it. At present all they must do is to take into account – which all too often means ignore.
Two recent public meetings in Wellington have seen a good turn out of people keen to have their say on a range of issues from environment to the local economy. Cllr Dave Mitton who introduced the events can give a clear example of the possible benefits.
“We would have had a full Longforth Rd development to the north of the town rather than the halfway house that’s coming if we’d had a statutory Neighbourhood Plan in place,” he said. “The cul-de-sac developments at Dobree Park, Swains lane and Cades Farm would have been quite different if we’d been listened to.”
Large sheets of paper were laid out at the two meetings for people to leave comments for forwarding to the group that must draft the plan. Here are a small selection:
Protect and take action over Tonedale Mill
Provide more allotments
Housing for the “well elderly” must be close to shops and banks
Tesco or Sainsburys for the Bulford Medical Centre site
Replace St John’s school with modern buildings to cater for new housing
Build cycle and running tracks with all future housing
Replace “not fit for purpose” community centre using Lottery money
Develop a USP that Wellington is the place to shop by bike
Town’s cultural context needs to wider than just WAA and twinning
Use Bulford as a youth and community centre
Opportunites for young people to be employed
Aspirations to be known as a “Food Town” need to be reviewed
Encourage local shopping and discourage Tesco delivery vans
These are just a tiny smaple of hundreds of ideas but the Town Council still want more. Please do email them at info@wellingtontowncouncil.co.uk
The more people who get involved the better and as the meetings made clear they value all comments; they will collate them and put them forward to TDBC in a way that ensures our voices are heard. We are looking at how Wellington will develop over the next 20 years.
You can find some ‘Lightbulb’ ideas at http://www.wellingtontowncouncil.co.uk/meetingnotes.asp?Category=22
and also a Questionnaire to download and complete with boxes to agree/disagree for each item , and space to add your own comments.
Is it possible to re route the buses? There I are frequent buses leaving/passing through the centre of town and travelling to/from Taunton on exactly the same route. This means that two or three, sometimes empty buses, are travelling to Taunton in convoy. Here in Barn Meads Road we have number 20 (only four times per day) one every 2 hrs. I suspect other areas of Wellington also have the same or worse problem. I have limited mobility and it would take me 15+minutes to walk to/from town to catch a bus if I was able. Why cannot buses travel out of Wellington on different routes to serve other areas? To use a bus I have to use my car to the park and ride to catch a bus into town so defeating the aim to cut carbon emissions. While I applaud the new ideas to encourage walking and cycling networks, that doesn’t help those like me who have limited mobility.
Some rather odd suggestions there! Discourage Tesco delivery vans – whatever happened to customer choice? Most of the supermarkets in Wellington don’t stock enough to do a full competitively priced shop, and shut early. There are plenty of employment opportunities for youngsters that WANT to work in Wellington. There is a need for more allotments and green breathing spaces,we don’t need more housing! Wellington food market needs to be in a more prominent place, maybe a pop up shop in one of the disused shops would be an option if shop owners would allow?The best thing about Wellington is it is a relatively small town with lots of independent retailers, lets keep it that way! I do have one suggestion, a Zebra crossing on South street for the students to cross safely, all in the same place!