This is Our Wellington Issue 2

This is our
August
2020
Wellington
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF WELLINGTON TOWN COUNCIL
Inside
Acts of kindness
around our region
Welcome to issue two of This Is Our Wellington,
serving the residents and businesses of our town.
We hope you enjoy this issue and find it informative
and interesting....
LOVE
Picture by: Paola Armstrong
New Love
Wellington website
FREE
Please take
your copy

Wellington
Town Council
02
Introducing Wellington’s new
Town Crier Liam Mcgrath
Standing: Cllr Stephen de Launey, Mayor Anthony Lowe, Deputy Town Clerk Andrew
Roberts, Seated: Town Clerk Karen Roper, Events Co-ordinator Paola Armstrong,
Communications and Events Manager Caroline Farrell
How to contact Wellington Town Council
Civic Offices, Larkin Way, Tan Bank, Wellington,
Telford, Shropshire TF1 1LX
Telephone: 01952 567697
Email: wellingtontowncouncil@telford.gov.uk
www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk
www.facebook.com/WellingtonTCShropshire
twitter.com/WellingtonTCI

This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
LOVE
Wellington has shown
real enterprise
A message from your
Wellington Mayor
Cllr Anthony Lowe
@LoveWellington
@LoveWellington1
lovewellington2019
I have been delighted to continue as your Mayor
beyond the completion of my year in May, with my
position being reviewed in September at our annual
meeting.
What times we find ourselves in. Wellington
has shown real enterprise during the
Covid pandemic. There have been virtual
networking events for businesses, shop
windows have been refreshed, our Wellington
Market is open with a new food court on its way and new
owners investing in improvements. Safety measures have
been put in place by our local businesses to ensure your safe
and very welcome return to the town and businesses have
collaborated to help each other and the wider public – all of
which is evident in the pages of ‘This is Our Wellington’.
We welcome a number of new businesses to the town (see
page 6) and through the regeneration work of the Town and
Borough councils we continue to do our best to attract new
companies, offices, investors and retailers.
The Love Wellington “Let’s Get Local” campaign urges us to
think about directing our spending habits locally and footfall
is increasing day by day. I wish to thank the “Love Wellington”
team for their strenuous efforts in leading our town into the
2020s.
Now at last we can venture into pubs and restaurants, and
throughout Mondays to Wednesdays in August you can get a
50% discount when you eat in at restaurants registered with
the Eat Out To Help Out Scheme (please read the conditions
because it’s a fantastic offer!)
I was particularly proud to mark the 75th anniversary of VE
Day in May when BBC Midlands Today visited our town. The
sun shone, bunting was in abundance, socially distanced
parties on Ercall Lane and New Church Rd. The Last Post
was played at the Peace Garden and tribute singer Kerry
Young performed outside The Plough which was netted and
bedecked with bunting.
Finally, I would like to say keep well, keep safe and be kind
to others. Being Mayor has been a true honour and I continue
to learn a lot in the role. Thank you for your support.
Cllr Anthony Lowe
Wellington Mayor
2019-2020
03

LOVE
This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
Reopening
our town
04
As the UK prepared for the ease of lockdown, the team at Wellington
Town Council and Telford & Wrekin Council worked hard behind the
scenes to ensure that Wellington was a safe place to visit.
“New measures have been adopted such as social distancing signs and
our local retailers have introduced hygiene screens, one way systems and
hand sanitising facilities.” Sally Coates, Marketing Destination Officer with
Telford & Wrekin Council said.
‘Virtual’ consultation meetings have been hosted by the Love Wellington
Business group with many businesses getting involved and contributing.
The main concern has been reassuring people that it is safe, to enable
businesses to start to trade again.
Consideration also took place to help safe queuing and social distancing
in the town which entailed some changes to traffic measures which were
continually reassessed. Whilst most have reverted back to pre-covid
arrangements now, traffic is still diverted away from entering Church
Street at the junction of Vineyard Road. The objective is to protect
pedestrians by discouraging through traffic from Vineyard Road to Bridge
Road using the Church Street and Market Street route. Narrow pavements
in Market Street meant pedestrians having to walk in the road in order
to maintain social distancing. Vehicular access to Market Street is still
available for deliveries and access. There are no current plans to close
Market Street to traffic.
Love Wellington
website
After many months of hard work, we are
delighted to announce that we recently
launched the website for Love Wellington.
Please do go and take a look. It’s easy
to navigate and is a great resource for
residents, visitors, shoppers – in fact the
whole community!
www.lovewellington.co.uk

This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
LOVE
Here to help...
Love Wellington put together a short video on social
media channels to reassure residents and visitors
showing measures in place around Wellington with a
tour from Paola of the Love Wellington team.
And Telford & Wrekin produced a video together
with the team from J&PR which features many
Wellington businesses as part of the ‘Pride in Our
High Street’ Shop Local message.
Love Wellington Business
WhatsApp Group
Love Wellington launches
Business WhatsApp Group
As a tool to effectively communicate all the changes
and new guidelines that have been put in place,
Love Wellington also set up a Business WhatsApp
group. This enables all Wellington based businesses
to communicate with each other and has proved to
be an invaluable service at a time of need.
There are currently over 70 businesses in the group
and vital information and updates from government
and Telford & Wrekin concerning grants and safety
have been quickly passed on using this facility, as
well as businesses supporting each other.
05
Virtual meetings took place in June and July on
Zoom and fingers crossed the next meeting on
Tuesday 15 September will be able to take place, in
person, at the Wrekin Masonic Hall.
You can view the video here:
https://youtube/WBuDYK2EtDU
Pavement licence
charge help
Join the Group
If you are a business and want to join – please
send your details to Lovewellington2020@
gmail.com to be added to the list.
To help businesses move outside to
help with social distancing, Wellington
Regeneration group has also agreed to offer
funding for businesses for the first months’
pavement licence charge of £25 for outdoor
seating in Wellington.

LOVE
This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
Businesses
working together
Community News
06
Two Wellington
businesses
joined forces
to mark the
opening up of
Wellington. Specsavers
had furloughed 29
members of staff – all of
whom had very unique
experiences of lockdown
complete with challenges.
To welcome them back
l Tristan King and Emma Davies
Emma Davies asked
them to sum up their
experience in 25 words and then contacted Wellington graphic
designer Tristan King of Voodoo Design to create a piece of art to
acknowledge this very strange time that we have all been through.
What they created was awesome don’t you think?
Welcome to New Businesses
Despite the challenges Covid presents things
are looking up and there are a number of new
businesses opening up in Wellington – we
welcome:
l Newbie and Me
Baby Store
l Coopers Corner Café
Sharing the mask wearing message
As mask wearing
became mandatory
Wellington retailers
were helped to
share the message
by Matt Kemp of
Emerge Design
who offered
to design and
print a poster –
complete with
Love Wellington’s
Let’s Get Local
l Matt Kent and Paola Armstrong
branding to spread the
word. 100 posters were then distributed throughout the town and
both Matt and butcher Tony Nicholls of Ken Francis Butchers were
interviewed on BBC Radio Shropshire to talk about this – and
about Wellington during Covid generally.
l Brooklyn
Craft
Burger
l Café
Espresso
l Saturday Cycles have
relocated in the market

This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
LOVE
Hopefully by now you will have
seen the Let’s Get Local
posters around Wellington.
The campaign was launched
at the height of the lockdown
to encourage local people to support
local business and thereby help
Wellington stand the best chance of
emerging from the pandemic with a
thriving local economy.
As well as the obvious benefits of using
local shops – many of whom provided
a lifeline delivering food and keeping
us going through lockdown, it’s also
about discovering some of the many less
obvious businesses operated by local
Wellington people.
We encouraged businesses to
come forward on the Love Wellington
Facebook page and tell us what they do
– and we were amazed by the variety of
people out there – who knew that there
was a voiceover artist or a vintage china
hire business in Wellington?
07
SEVEN REASONS
TO SHOP LOCAL
1. Your spending will boost the local
economy
2. It is usually a greener and more ethical
choice
3. You can get quirky ‘one off’ gifts
4. You will be supporting British
entrepreneurs
5. You can help build our community
6. It’s instant! You also might get a better
deal, better service and some good
advice
7. It’s more friendly and you get to
know people, chat and feel part of
Wellington

LOVE
This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
Regeneration
update
08
Love Wellington is only part of the work of the
Wellington Regeneration.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s Economic
Development have been working tirelessly as
part of the Pride in Your High Street campaign
over the last 18 months.
A number of Empty Unit Incentive Grants
have been awarded in Wellington, with seven openings
and two more in the pipeline soon to open.
They include Nanny’s Craft Bakery, The Walnut,
Nathan Rous PR, CoCo’s Deserts, Dream Doors, The
Orbit and Love Mobility who have moved to a much
bigger property with a facility to service and repair and
their own disabled blue badge spaces at the rear of the
shop making it easier for their clients.
These businesses have been supported because
they deliver a new retail offer or service experience
which will diversify the town’s offer and encourage new
footfall, whilst repurposing empty retail space.
There have also been a number of Wellington
businesses who have had a façade improvements -
seven so far in the Market Square and include Seaton
Sports, Maddies, Newsline and the Gratitude Café with a
further 16 to complete.
The Orbit had a Telford 50 Grant of £150k, a £10k
grant from Empty Unit Incentive grant and £6,500 which
was façade improvements to the building.
Telford Directory
Telford & Wrekin are also launching a
Telford Directory to list all local businesses
– to get listed go to
www.telford.gov.uk/shoplocal

This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
LOVE
Cock Hotel set
to for refurb
At the time of writing the long awaited decision
for the refurbishment of the renowned Cock
Hotel sits on the brink of agreement. Telford
& Wrekin Planning department have been
evaluating proposals by Shropshire brewer Joules
for the last 20 months and are now close to giving
their approval to a major project, the largest that
Joule’s have undertaken, for their flagship tap
house in Telford.
The pub, also known as the old ‘Wrekin Tap’,
was acquired by Joule’s Brewery in the 19th
Century, only to fall into the hands of local rival
Bass in 1974 after a bitter and hostile takeover.
So it will be wonderful to see it restored and
refurbished as a Joules pub.
Steve Nuttall MD of Joule’s said, “We have
aspired to having a Joules tap in Telford for
many years, and the Cock Hotel which was
originally a Joules house for over 100 years
makes for a perfect fit. We propose a substantial
refurbishment and a significant extension to
house a modern kitchen and dining space to
serve simple and classic homemade pub food.
“We’ll retain the old proper traditional beer
counters to maintain the essence of the place
and in addition the roof and fabric of the building
all needs work - to preserve it for the next 100
years.”
Further
investment for
Wellington
Market
Wellington Market has seen further investment
during the lockdown period, with extensive
rewiring and refurbishment carried out by the
new owners.
There is a Food Court being built currently
which it’s hoped will be opened in October,
with live music and late night openings as a
new feature.
Unique treatments for Telford
A new laser, skin and body clinic opened its doors on Tan Bank in
Wellington. Dermacore received an Empty Retail Unit grant from
Telford & Wrekin Council as it brings unique new treatments to
Telford.
09

This is our Wellington
www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk
News from Wellington
Town Council
10
Grants
The Town Council were very
pleased to be able to assist in
obtaining grants for the Shawbirch
and the Bowring Covid-19
Community Help Groups that
were formed during lockdown.
The Council recognise that all
volunteers are inspirational and
their fantastic efforts really
encapsulated the community spirit
and kindness.
Karen Roper, the Town Clerk said
“We would like to thank everyone
who offered help and support to
others and continue to do so during
this difficult time.”
Deep clean
Continuing to provide a
service for Wellington
The doors of the office may have been
closed since the start of lockdown but
the Town Council team have continued to
provide a service to the public working from
home.
“We have adapted to ensure standards of
service have remained high,” said Caroline
Farrell, Events and Communications
Manager. “We have diverted phones and
responded to enquiries and conducted
virtual meetings with full Wellington Town
Council continuing via Zoom which have
been live streamed on Facebook. It’s been a steep learning curve but we
have had the needs of the Wellington residents as our top priority in order to
respond appropriately to the situation.”
If you need to contact Wellington Town Council you can do so in the normal
way by telephone 01952 567697 or by email: wellingtontowncouncil@telford.
gov.uk.
Wellington Environmental
Services Team (WEST)
During lockdown Wellington town
centre was treated to a deep
clean. Ben Federico from Idverde
explained: “During these difficult
times, the Idverde workforce
have really pulled together which
has enabled us to carry on bin
emptying, litter picking and road
sweeping.
“We have also had our street
wash team cleaning the pavements
which has received some really
good feedback.”
It has been business as usual for the
WEST team. They did a superb job on
the pathway at the end of Sutherland
Avenue and have also been working
hard at the Bowring Park, as well as
cutting back foliage in Shawbirch,
Arleston and Dothill Nature Reserve,
resurfacing paths and repainting
waste bins – to name but a few of the
many jobs they undertake. This also
included putting up all the bunting
that graced the town for the VE Day
celebrations in May.
l Mick and Joe from WEST Team

This is our Wellington
www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk
Crime prevention
Hanging baskets
An innovative crime
prevention initiative
is being launched
in Wellington
by the Town
Council working in
partnership with
West Mercia police. The aim is to encourage
local businesses to sign up to become one of
the first “Smartwater Safe” retail centres in
the county.
The ‘We Don’t Buy Crime’ scheme
launched over 3 days in July with officers
walking around the town centre, engaging
with retailers and being based at a mobile
police station in Market Square. Police
officers will be rolling out and registering
‘Smartwater’ packs which enable businesses
to mark their possessions with invisible but
traceable liquid.
Wellington Town Council have received compliments
about the spectacular and plentiful hanging baskets
that can be seen around the town. In full support of
the Let’s Get Local campaign, the council wanted to
find a supplier who was local and turned to Limetree
Landscapes Services and Nurseries who have been
based in Wellington for over 40 years.
Malcolm Shambley, of Limetree was delighted to be
asked and had this to say, “We were thrilled to be asked
and have worked hard to provide a top quality service. We
have been absolutely delighted at the positive response
our work has created.”
New
lights and
crossing
In an effort to make our roads
safer, the Borough Council
Highways Department are
installing new lights and a crossing
going at the junction of Haygate
Road/Holyhead Road with work
expected to be completed by the
end of the Summer.
Traffic
and speed
issues
Wellington Town Council have
been working with Telford &
Wrekin Council, West Mercia Police
and local Councillors to help try
and tackle traffic and speed issues
across the town.
Speed surveys are being
conducted in various locations
around Wellington and the Town
Council, in partnership with the
Police and Crime Commissioner,
have funded a Speed Indicator
Device which will be placed in
identified hotspots in Wellington.
11
Cycling in Wellington
Part of the Covid recovery plans nationally include a focus on ‘active travel’ –
walking and cycling. With this in mind the Mayor Cllr Anthony Lowe has been
looking at bike rack provision around Wellington, including at the bottom of
The Wrekin, and is working with town councillors, Telford & Wrekin Council
and the local Sustrans group to help make Wellington altogether more ‘bike
friendly’.

This is our Wellington
www.lovewellington.co.uk
LOVE
Wellington in lockdown
From Heroes signs for NHS
workers, local Covid Mutual
Aid groups; from schools
and the Polish Community
making PPE and face masks;
restaurants delivering meals to
NHS workers and hospitals; the All
Saints ‘Board of Hope’ in the Market
Square.
The Wellington Community
has rallied round and been truly
inspirational throughout the
pandemic. We have been sharing
some of these ‘Acts of Kindness’ on
our Love Wellington social media
channels throughout. Pictured
below: Adrienne Taylor from The
Daberhashery kindly made and
donated the beautiful bunting for
the VE celebrations
Acts of Kindness
Wellington in Bloom
To brighten up Wellington a ‘Wellington in Bloom’ competition was launched for
the first time by Love Wellington. There were many wonderful entries from green
fingered residents and businesses which were judged in late July by the Mayor and
Mayoress.
+
Plus Two Media
+
This is our Wellington has been designed and printed by Plus Two Media Limited. All text copyright © Wellington Town Council 2020
Photographs supplied by Love Wellington and Wellington Town Council additional pictures from Wrekin News / Plus Two Media
Limited archive. For more information about newsletter and brochure design and printing please contact James Baylis
Telephone: 07977 481186 / 01952 228973 or email: james@plus2media.co.uk - www.plus2media.co.uk