A COUNCILLOR has said that Welcome to Wellington signs on the entrances to the town look anything but welcoming to motorists.

Cllr Keith Wheatley, speaking at Wellington Town Council’s economic development committee on April 16, said: “The signs look filthy, unattractive and unwelcoming.”

“I know we (town council) don’t own them, but who is going to tell us off if we clean them?” he asked. “We should think about making the signs on the perimeter of our town looking really good.”

Cllr Mark Lithgow said that the town council had previously given signs a tidy-up, but was unsure about the present day health and safety requirements.

“Some of the signs are so filthy I feel like cleaning them myself,” he said.

Cllr Wheatley added: “Let’s get this done. This is one of those occasions where we might have to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.”

Cllr John Thorne said the town council had a budget to clean bus stop shelters and suggested they should do the signs at the same time.

It was proposed by Cllr Mike McGuffie that the issue be passed to the town council’s open spaces manager Darren Hill and that it be put on the agenda for a future meeting of the authority’s environment committee.

The discussion took place while the council’s facilities manager Nettie Kirk gave details of forthcoming events including the 80th anniversary commemorations of VE Day and VJ Day on May 8 and August 15 respectively, plus the Wellington Garden of Light on October 25.

These events might well see visitors travelling to Wellington – perhaps for the first time – and councillors believe that clean and attractive signs give a good first impression of the town.

Cllr Janet Lloyd said the council should refer to the Chapter Eight guidelines feature in the Department for Transport’s traffic signs manual.