COUNCILLORS have agreed to look at employing a community warden in helping to keep Wellington look neat and tidy.

For a number of years Wellington Town Council has commissioned a community warden from an outside agency, Idverde. It was originally intended that this role would supplement services carried out in the town by Somerset West and Taunton District Council.

But Idverde has since stopped providing that service and, with the Somerset West and Taunton Council soon to make way for the new Somerset Council unitary authority, local councillors have been discussing a proposal to employ its own community warden.

The Somerset and Taunton Council will continue to provide services such as emptying dog waste bins and park littler bins and litter picking of parks.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s policy and resources committee heard on Monday, December 19, that its own community warden would keep tabs on the public defibrillator; litter pick in areas not undertaken by the Somerset Wet and Taunton Council; help with local events; inspect allotments; check the Tonedale Play Park; clean street furniture; update notice boards; plant and water town council planters; keep tabs on footpath issues; and check town council-own toilets and general office maintenance.

Councillors heard that to employ a community warden for 22 hours a week would gain a salary of £15,000 a year; while there would have to be around £50,000 to help fund the set-up costs for the post including tools, clothing, safety equipment and a van.

One question councillors was asked on December 19 whether they liked the role known as a community warden or community ranger.

And Cllr Janet Lloyd was quick to dismiss the word “ranger”.

“I think I would prefer the title community warden as ranger makes me think of Kemosabe and Tonto,” she said in reference to the Lone Ranger, a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who made his television series debut back in the late 1930s.

Cllr John Thorne said: “I think we should be having a community warden and I don’t think it should be ranger either as that is more associated with national parks.

“We should be employing someone or putting it out to tender for someone to run the service for us. I don’t support the idea of going the whole hog and getting a van – I think that would be going a step too far. Let’s see how it goes and look at it again further down the line.”

Cllr Thorne suggested that if the community warden had “a strimmer, a pair of welly boots and some rubbish bags” they could “put them in the boot of their car”.

“We are in the middle of a cost of living crisis and we have to think about how we spend taxpayers’ money – things are tough out there,” added Cllr Thorne.

Cllr Marcus Barr said: “I think we have to bring this in-house and have our own community warden, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be putting dirty rubbish bags in the back of my car – we have to go the whole hog and get them a van. This would be a way of the council working for the people of Wellington and helping as many people as we can. By having it done in-house we will have confidence in our staff that the jobs will be done properly.”

Cllr Lloyd added: “I’m not sure whether 22 hours a week will be enough time to get all the jobs done, but people will appreciate the town looking neat and tidy.”

Cllr Mike McGuffie said that the council could look at renting or leasing a van for the community warden, while there were concerns about what would happen in the event of sickness, injury or maternity/paternity leave.

“I’m concerned that if something happened we would be left with having nobody,” said the Mayor, Cllr Mark Lithgow.

Cllr Barr responded: “It’s a good point, but we need to bite the bullet on this. You have to put the building blocks in place in readiness for a few years down the line.

“I’m sure the new unitary authority will be coming to us and asking us to do jobs like grass cutting and I reckon we’ll have more staff.”

Councillors have recommended to full council that it looks at employing its own community warden and this will be discussed again in the New Year.