Wellington MARKET AND COASTAL TOWNS INITIATIVE THE VISION & PLAN FOR THE FUTURE THAT WE WANT CONTENTS Executive Summary .............................................2 Foreword ...............................................................4 Introduction ..........................................................5 How We Wrote the Vision and Plan ...................5 Wellington - Our Town ...................................... 6-7 Our Community’s Profile ................................ 8-10 Our Vision ............................................................11 Our Community ..................................................12 Our Environment and Housing..........................13 Our Economy and Employment ................ 14-15 Our Transport ......................................................16 Our Young People and Education ...................17 Implementation Plan .........................................18 Appendix A: SWOT Analysis ..............................19 Appendix B: Strategic Context ................... 20-21 Links to other plans and strategies ....Back Cover A VISION FOR WELLINGTON 1 Wellington Monument and the Blackdown Hills EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ensure that Wellington is visually attractive with buildings level of through traffic in the town centre. We will aim his Vision and Plan for Wellington, Somerset, is An extensive range of sport and leisure activities and spaces that are well designed and maintained. to reduce the impact of heavy and light traffic on the the product of almost a year of preparation and Easy access to protected landscapes The amount of waste created by Wellington’s residents, town centre environment, to expand the public transport Tcommunity engagement led by the Wellington businesses and visitors must be reduced, as must the options available to residents travelling out of Wellington, Economic Partnership. A steering group launched the The Vision for Wellington is to be “an inclusive town amount of finite resources used by Wellington. Similarly to improve the options and quality of public transport process in November 2007 and then conducted a range proud of its people, identity and history. Surrounded by there must be an increase in the proportion of energy available to residents travelling within Wellington and of workshops and events to establish the issues that protected landscapes, Wellington will be renowned for from renewable sources. The negative environmental to promote and improve walking and cycling as a local residents felt affected the town and the actions the quality of its local food, its cultural industries and its impacts of new buildings and developments must be viable transport option for the majority of residents of that were needed to address the areas of concern. The tourist opportunities. Accessibility to the M5 and mainline continually reduced. Wellington’s green spaces are Wellington. final document was drafted by the project worker and railway will make it a highly attractive location at the precious and must be protected and enhanced. completed by an external consultant. centre of the South West and the gateway to Devon and Young people are the future of Wellington, but they Cornwall for many businesses who will all contribute to the To meet the needs of Wellington’s residents, there must are often stigmatised and ostracised often because of Wellington is a historic town that developed its wealth in town’s vibrant and healthy economy and community”. be sufficient supply of affordable housing and housing the actions of a small minority. To help young people agriculture, wool and textiles. In the twentieth century it At the same time, the vision is underpinned by an urgent types. be involved, engaged and consulted on the future increasingly became a dormitory suburb of Taunton, the need to meet the climate change challenge. We must of Wellington, we will aim to extend and improve the nearby county town, but has more recently started to ensure not only that our use of the world’s finite resources, Without a strong and resilient economy, Wellington will range of facilities available to young people of all ages establish a renaissance via its food-related businesses. especially carbon fuels, is continually reduced but also always struggle to meet the other needs of its residents. and to support and promote their emotional, creative that we can adapt to changes in the national and global We will aim to work with existing employers to meet their and social development. We will work to ensure that Wellington has been identified as a settlement that will economy as climate change impacts upon our activities strategic needs and to secure high quality employment there are sufficient school places to meet the needs see substantial housing growth in the coming years. This and quality of life. for residents of all ages and skill levels. We will promote of the growing community and also to use technology will place particular strain on existing services but also growth in the number and range of businesses in and all other methods to ensure that lifelong learning offer opportunities to address some of the long term In terms of its community, the future aim is for Wellington to Wellington especially by developing local economic opportunities are available to all residents. We will also structural issues such as: be a town that is inclusive of all its residents and welcoming links and opportunities. We will also brand and market work with employers to identify the skills they require, and Reliance for employment on a small number of large for all newcomers. It needs to provide residents with a Wellington as a place for food, cultural tourism and work with schools and agencies to help them develop manufacturers safe environment and a town centre that can be safely creative businesses. We will aim to promote and support those skills. A town centre in need of investment accessed by all ages at all times of the day and night. new business investment that brings significant and Poor public transport links While better than many places, the quality and level of varied employment opportunities to local residents. The The implementation of this plan will be led by the Perceptions of high levels of anti-social behaviour participation in sporting activities should still be improved, protection, support for and promotion of independent Wellington Economic Partnership together with A lack of affordable housing as should participation in arts and cultural events. With retailing in Wellington is also vital, as is the provision of Wellington Town Council. The support of key service an ageing population, the standard of health care also premises and services to support start-up businesses. agencies will, however, be critical and to this end Wellington does however have many strengths and these needs to be maintained and developed. forums such as the Local Area Partnership will be key to include: Although benefiting from a junction on the M5, Wellington obtaining the strategic coordination that will be vital if A high proportion of independent retailers The environment of Wellington is paramount. The aim is to has poor public transport provision and has a high Wellington is to achieve its vision. 2 2 A VISION FOR WELLINGTON A VISION FOR WELLINGTON 3 3 INTRODUCTION his Vision and Plan for the future of Wellington has Focused events were then organised around each theme been written by the residents of the town with the although we felt that, in the time allowed, we would need Taim of establishing the future they want for the to condense a number of themes which became: next 20 years. The process was started by the Wellington Transport Economic Partnership who obtained funding from the Economy & Employment Market and Coastal Towns Association to carry out a Youth Services & Education community engagement exercise. Environment & Housing Community FOREWORD The Vision and Plan builds on a body of previous research Obviously there is a degree of overlap between the and strategies including the Wellington Area Community various themes. ur plan looks to the future of the community of Wellington Strategy (2006). Importantly, however, it concerns itself and Rockwell Green. We are determined that Wellington only with the town itself, not the surrounding communities, Events were held with two local schools in order to Ois as well placed as we can make it to meet the potential and also embodies a much greater level of community engage students and pupils in the vision process. The challenges caused by both natural and legislative changes which will involvement in identifying issues and solutions. first of these took place in January 2008 with the School affect the economic and social life of our community. We want to Council of Beech Grove Primary School when three make Wellington a better place for all to live. Each of the five sections has a statement of local needs members of the Steering Group facilitated an hour of which is drawn from the community profile, the Strengths, group work in what was a very productive afternoon. The plan is the result of asking people who live locally about how they Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis At the second school, Court Fields Community School see the future of the town. The purpose of the plan is to demonstrate (Appendix A) and the local consultation. The community (Secondary), circle assemblies were used to discuss the to local, regional and national bodies that we are proud of Wellington, profile is followed by a vision for the future