A COUNCILLOR has suggested that the Westpark business park on the edge of Wellington could soon be rivalling the Taunton Deane Services on the M5 for business.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s planning committee met on Wednesday (May 1, 2024) where they were discussing an application for signage from the planned new KFC fast-food restaurant.

And Cllr Steve Mercer, during the general discussion, said he had heard concerns that it would not be long before the business park would become a popular stop-off point location for motorists on the M5.

“There are concerns that it could become an alternative to the Taunton Deane Services on the M5,” he said.

Cllr Mercer said that on his travels he had often turned off a motorway and headed in land for a mile or so to find amenities rather than use a service station.

“It’s a darn sight cheaper to do that than the prices you find at a motorway service station,” he said. 

Councillors “reluctantly” agreed to support the application for KFC to install a total of 22 signs at its new restaurant at Chelston.

The town council has persistently opposed, but failed to stop, a mammoth influx of signs at premises at the business park and have often said that it looks like “Blackpool illuminations” or “Las Vegas” at night when illuminated, while recently it was claimed that the brightly-lit site could “probably be seen from Mars.”

But councillors begrudgingly admitted that it was now a lost cause to try and prevent more signs from being put up there.

Cllr John Thorne said it was too late now for the town council to raise any substantial objections to signage at the business park – having seen countless signs installed there in recent years.

“I don’t think we can stop this,” he said. “The precedent for signs down there has long since bolted the stable.”

But Cllr Mike McGuffie said: “It looks absolutely horrible.”

It was recently confirmed that the opening date for the Wellington KFC restaurant had been delayed, while Somerset Council will make a final decision on the latest planning application.