COUNCILLORS are going ahead with plans to introduce six hi-tech digital advertising and information boards in Wellington.
The town council has been in discussion for a number of months with technology company Pulse Smart Hub which provides what has been described as the ‘smartest of street furniture’.
The hubs are essentially advertising boards which promote local information in a digital format ‘free of charge’ for councils to use.
The hubs will also be equipped with a potentially life saving public access defibrillator which could be used on somebody in the event of them having suffered a cardiac arrest.
The company has proposed several locations for hubs in Wellington which were discussed by the town council’s economic development committee.
Councillors suggested the six hubs should be located in the coach park in Longforth Road, in High Street, Tonedale near the One Stop store, North Street car park off Fore Street, Westpark business park, and in Rockwell Green.
A proposed location for a hub in Taunton Road was ruled out by councillors as it would be in the ‘middle of nowhere’.
The council has been discussing the installation of the smart hubs for a number of months now and there was still a certain amount of concern and scepticism.
However, the general consensus of opinion among councillors was they should go ahead with the project and try to keep up-to-date with modern technology.
In September of last year, the mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, said that she had seen children ‘sat in pushchairs texting on phones’ and the council needed to offer the services the younger generation required.
But, Cllr Mike McGuffie referred to himself as a ‘luddite’ – a term used for English workers in the early 1800s who were opposed to the use of automated machinery in the textile industry.