COUNCILLORS will be ploughing ahead to turn the former Kings Arms pub in Wellington into a community hub which could become the blueprint for similar projects across the county.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s newly-formed community committee met on May 20 where they discussed the latest news on the Kings Arms.

It was back in late 2022 when Falcon Rural Housing Association began work on turning the pub – which had stood empty for seven years – into a community hub on the ground floor and social rented flats on the upper floors.

Falcon has been working closely with the town council on a partnership agreement for the facility which could see multi-use community space on the ground floor used by groups such as churches, voluntary organisations, small charities, and local council and public health agencies.

Town clerk Dave Farrow told councillors on May 20 that work on the community hub project now needed to be stepped up.

“This needs to be gripped now and this committee is the right one to grip it,” he said. “We want this building to be flexible, but we need to work out how it’s going to be done.

“The work they have been doing at the King’s Arms is amazing. There is still a lot of work to be done, but when you think of what it was like there a few months ago, they’ve been done an amazing job.

“Falcon is hoping to get things done by September so we need to move things forward and look at what we want to do with the building.”

Pete Joint, who has the dual role of Community One Team co-ordinator and the Area Community Connect Champion, said: “We can almost vision how some things are going to work in there, but there is massive potential.

“We’ve had a brainstorming session and we talked about seeing young people with a lot of issues at secondary schools and the fact that we no longer have a children’s centre.

“We could, perhaps, intervene in those issues at the earliest possible moment where people could come in off the street and get help and advice with things.

“There is not a lot of domestic abuse in Wellington, for example, but we’ve seen examples of it and the children involved are affected by it.

“Where do children go after school? They want somewhere to go and chill out. I have already been asked if we are going to put a dartboard up there! It’s a simple idea, but we have to look at lots of things.”

And Mr Joint added: “We have got a blank canvas with this although we have got a few ideas. But we need to get into the nitty gritty of things.

“This is a flagship project and if it works the concept could be used countywide. It is a real opportunity.”

Possible ideas for the community hub include a digital café, a repair café, a breakfast club for mums and a base for mental health groups.