COUNCILLORS have vowed to step up efforts to get new Post Office facilities in Wellington after more disappointing news.

Members of Wellington Town Council were dismayed to be told that as no potential retail candidate for taking on Post Office services had been identified, it was unlikely the facilities will be reinstated.

Councillors agreed at the full council meeting last week – held via the Zoom conferencing technology – that something needed to be done.

“I specifically asked for this item to be on the agenda,” said Cllr John Thorne. He said he was ‘pretty miffed’ when he heard the Post Office essentially said it had given up hope of opening new facilities in the town.

“The onus is on the Post Office to do something,” he said. “The Post Office is owned by the public and we pay for it. They really should be doing a lot more for the public. The onus is on them to keep the search going until they find someone to take it on.”

Councillors have agreed that they should get in touch with Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow about the problem and to seek professional guidance on how the council might positively respond to the situation.

They have also agreed to repeat their concerns to the Post Office about the problems caused by a lack of service in Wellington and make an appeal to any local business in the town which might be willing to incorporate a Post Office counter within its premises with the possibility of a financial subsidy from the council.

Councillors will also look at empty premises in the town to see if any of those are suitable as a Post Office, while they will investigate the possibility of taking on the management of a Post Office themselves.

“Maybe it will come to that,” said Cllr Thorne, in reference to the town council becoming postmasters. “If we don’t do something, nobody else will,” he said. “I don’t know what the answer is ultimately, but we can’t shut the door on this and we must explore what we can do.”

The Post Office at Rockwell Green – which is still open for business – is very busy with queues of people waiting to get in and this in turn has caused problems with the extra traffic generated.

Cllr Nancy Powell-Brace said: “We need to step up on this issue. We are going to lose a lot of goodwill and faith if we don’t. It’s essential for the town.”

Cllr Andrew Govier warned running a Post Office would put a ‘financial millstone’ around the council’s neck. “We need to see if it is viable and to find a partner in getting someone to set it up,” he added.

Cllr Chris Booth said the council found itself ‘in between a rock and a hard place’ over the search for a Post Office solution.

Councillors agreed a small working group needed to be formed quickly to look at the issue in more detail.