Town council looking to ‘welcome back’ people into the town

WESTBURY Town Council has been discussing ways to celebrate and promote Westbury after being allocated a grant of £10,000 by Wiltshire Council, through the government’s ‘welcome back fund,’ which is designed to support the safe return of local people to the town following the Covid pandemic. 

Some of the ideas discussed at the policy and resources committee meeting of Westbury Town Council on 6th June included setting up colourful banners throughout Westbury that promote town events such as the Westbury Festival, the Chilli Fest and historical sites of interests such as the Blue Plaques. A pop-up park in Soisy Gardens is another idea and may include wildflower planting and a new seating area for families to enjoy. 

Other ideas also include creating information boards in the town centre that point to places of local interest, as well as advertising town council priority projects, such as the Vision for Westbury and Neighbourhood Plan documents. 

Further ideas were recommended that would require Westbury Town Council to provide additional funding, but this was turned down by the local authority. One idea was for a £1,800 ‘dinosaur trail’ (an educational celebration of Westbury’s famous pliosaur, Doris), but the artwork would only be in the town throughout the summer and so councillors decided it would not be a good use of money. 

Cllr Mike Sutton summed up councillors’ sentiments by saying, “I’d rather spend money on things that will be in the town for the long-term. Things like the dinosaur trail may provide interest to our local history, but I think it comes at too high a cost – especially if it would only be in the town for a few months.” 

Under the government’s ‘welcome back fund’, local authorities were given a share of £50million to spend to help support the safe return of local people to high streets and help local councils build back better from the pandemic. 

This is the second round of funding made available by the government and builds on the 2020 ‘reopening the high street safely fund’.  

A representative from City Dressing, the company which is responsible for making the ideas a reality, recently met with Westbury Town Council’s clerk, Deborah Urch, to discuss the town’s needs. The town council say that the ideas can be put into action ‘almost immediately,’ once they give City Dressing the go-ahead.