COUNCILLORS are looking at what needs to be done in Wellington to prevent the safety of local people being put at risk in the event of a terrorist attack or other serious incident.
People might have to read that sentence again – it is not often you see Wellington put into the same sentence as “terrorist attack.”
But new legislation going through Parliament at the moment could mean that several venues and events in Wellington will need to have increased security.
Wellington Town Council’s economic development committee met on January 15 where it discussed correspondence received from Avon and Somerset Police and the Government regarding future event planning and security with specific information about vehicle measures and terrorist attacks.
Andy Newland, of Avon and Somerset Police, said that outdoor event organisers needed to be more aware of the obvious potential dangers about vehicles being able to be driven among crowds of people.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, known as Martyn’s Law, meanwhile, looks to improve “protective security” by requiring, for the first time, that those responsible for certain premises and events consider the terrorist risk and how they would respond to an attack.
Wellington Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, said: “Although we’re not a big city, it could still happen here.”
The Terrorism Bill includes premises and venues attracting between 200 and 800 people, as well as events with more than 800 in attendance.
The Government said it considers it “reasonable to expect those responsible for certain premises and events to take appropriate measures to protect their workers and the public.” But it adds: “However, such activity should be proportionate.”
Cllr John Thorne said: “I raised my eyebrows when I first saw this on the agenda thinking that this doesn’t really apply to Wellington. But when I looked at the details I discovered it could most definitely apply to Wellington.”
He said the new regulations for 200-799 attendances could apply to places such as the rugby club and football club and the Iron Duke pub, while the larger attendance would apply to the street markets, Wellington Carnival and the switching-on of the Christmas lights.
“This is going to catch a lot of organisations,” said Cllr Thorne. “I wasn’t really aware of this – it is a serious subject.
“The likelihood of a terrorist attack in Wellington is low, but there’s nothing to say that someone with serious mental health issues might one day go through the town and kill people?”
Councillors agreed that its emergency planning contingencies needed to be reviewed and although it could be expensive, “what price do you put on keeping people safe?”
Cllr Steve Mercer referred to the Hungerford massacre of 1987 in Berkshire when Michael Ryan shot and killed 16 people before killing himself.
“Nobody would have thought something like that would happen in Hungerford, but these things do unfortunately happen,” he said.
“The likelihood of it happening here is tiny, but we have to keep a fine balance on things – we don’t want to panic people.”