SOMERSET Council is being called upon to take action NOW on a Wellington town centre eyesore which is getting worse by the week.

The former E. J. Teare newsagents building in South Street has been empty since 2017 and fallen into disrepair over that time. Somerset Council last year gave the owner a few months to get things sorted or it would take further action.

But that deadline has long since passed and Somerset Council has still yet to take enforcement action – much to the annoyance of local councillors who have been extremely vocal over the past year about the building’s decline in appearance and safety.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s economic development committee met on September 11 where they urged officers at County Hall in Taunton to do something.

Cllr Janet Lloyd said: “Several years ago when I was a member of the old district council I raised this matter about Teares and was told that they didn’t have enough enforcement officers and that they couldn’t send a threatening letter because the owner was unwell.

“But surely the owner of a building has a responsibility to keep it in good order? The place is falling down.”

The Teares building sits within a conservation area – so it is protected by Somerset Council – but Cllr Thorne said the county authority was letting Wellington down by not taking action.

“What is the point of a conservation area if Somerset Council doesn’t take the responsibility for that conservation area?” he asked. “It’s darn right disappointing and they’re letting Wellington down; and not for the first time either.

“Somerset Council just doesn’t have the inclination to help towns like Wellington anymore.”

And Cllr Thorne said it was the norm now that if Somerset Council – which is in the midst of a financial emergency - did not want to do something, it would just try and “pass it on to town councils” to sort out.

But Wellington Town Council does not have the statutory powers to do anything about Teares itself.

“We can’t do anything about this because we haven’t got the powers to do it, but we need to take someone on who knows what they are doing,” said Cllr Thorne. “It’s the biggest eyesore in the town centre and we need to get something moving in order to get something done.”

Cllr Mark Lithgow added: “There are several buildings in Wellington which need action.”

But Cllr Keith Wheatley warned that even if the town council did have the power for compulsory purchase of the building – it would have to think long and hard about what to do.

“If the law was different it would be very expensive,” he said. “I don’t think we’d be leaping in to buy this building under compulsory purchase. I just can’t see a way forward.”

Committee chairman, Cllr Chris Booth, said: “It’s looking bleak.”

It was agreed that town clerk Dave Farrow would continue to speak with Somerset Council to try and get some positive action.