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Wellingborough Town Council's Corporate Plan, 2023-2028

These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.

Wellingborough Town Council continues to be committed to making the town a better place to live, work and relax.

We have created an updated list of aspirations that we are looking to provide for the community over the next five years.

To help us, we would ask that you read through the corporate plan booklet and complete our simple questionnaire about the services we plan to offer.

We are keen to hear your views and suggestions, and this questionnaire is to establish whether these aspirations meet with the communities needs and whether there is support to fund these activities through your council tax.

Come along to the following events where Town Council members will be available to hand out paper copies and answer your questions:

  • Saturday 10th December: Victoria Centre, 14:00 – 17:00

If you are unable to come along to these consultation sessions, you can collect a copy of the plan and questionnaire from Wellingborough’s key locations including:

  • Swansgate Shopping Centre,
  • Wellingborough Museum
  • Wellingborough Library

The results will be discussed by the Town Council in January 2023 to finalise the council’s budget. 

The deadline for completing the questionnaire is

5pm on 16th December 2022.

Message from the Leader, Cllr Graham Lawman.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this corporate plan which sets out the council’s aspirations for the next five years.

The benefit of starting a council from scratch is that we have had the opportunity to assess what assets and functions are important to the community before making any commitments. We have identified these through your feedback and by assessing the value of the services provided to the community from these facilities.

Starting from nothing, it has been vital that we build up a stable financial position before we can try to take on any asset. We also need to ensure that any facility we take ownership of will provide services which add benefit to the community. We plan to provide this sound footing by creating a reserve for any new asset, before taking it on and ensure its sustainability. This will avoid significant increase to the tax-payer in any year.

Alongside that, I have been delighted with the number of successful events and activities we have held in the town. These events have enabled the community to come together in a safely to play in The Beach, listen to music in the park, interact with characters,  farmyard animals and reptiles along with many more activities as well as increasing footfall in the town centre.

This corporate plan details how the council intends to grow over the next five years, providing a range of services and events  to our community and businesses.

I am pleased to be part of this growing council and its decision making supporting the development of our community.

Message from the Town Clerk, Sally McLellan

Since its creation in April 2021, the Town Council has dedicated its time to listening to the community and discovering what services you would like this newly established authority to provide.

Staff and councillors have been out in the community identifying gaps in services, along with meeting many established community organisations to identify what support they need to enrich their services.

All feedback has been considered by the town council and has been used to create this corporate plan for the next five years.

The town council aims not to duplicate the work of others, but, to work with them enhancing the health and well-being of our residents. You will see that this theme runs throughout the council’s plan, whether it is working with St Marks Church for the provision of school holiday clubs, leading on climate change with community organisations or providing community grants to enable non-profit organisations to deliver projects and services.

I hope this booklet provides an informative guide on our aspirations over the next five years and you will continue to provide your view on these aims to ensure we deliver what is needed for Wellingborough.

Wellingborough Town Council Corporate Plan 2021-2025

These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.

From the results...

As we near the end of our first year in existence, Wellingborough Town Council is delighted
to have written, consulted on and agreed our first Corporate Plan for the period until 2025.

We have also just agreed our first annual budget as a fully elected town council and now have three staff
to deliver services to you. Both the plan and budget are available to view in full on our website,
along with other helpful information, which is being updated and added to regularly.

A town app is also in preparation which will include walking trails and information about our town.
Residents are also welcome to attend and speak at our Council meetings.
Communication with you – both ways – is important to us.

Most services locally are being delivered by North Northants Council (NNC),
so the Town Council is focusing on working in partnership with them as well as areas where we
can add value, additional benefits and services to residents.
We will look to take over any local assets that we feel we can afford and that people would
want looked after locally.
From your feedback, we have budgeted to run a number of events and attractions for families to enjoy
and encourage people to come into the town centre and be part of the community.
Your council will seek to make visual and environmental improvements to the town centre,
where we can, with features such as floral displays, cleanups, benches and other
enhancements. We also want to continue our long-established civic links with
our twin towns – Niort & Wittlich –once travel is allowed!

Our newly agreed budget has given us a precept of £270,430 –
meaning an annual town council tax of £17.47 for a Band D property.
This is a rise of £5.66 – actually less than we consulted upon
and just under 11p per week and will be collected by NNC.

We are delighted to include £15,000 funding for community grants to local organisations and
groups for their projects and schemes. An application form for individual grants up to £1,000
is available on our website. This year, we are planning to spend £45,000 on events such as
Remembrance Sunday, Christmas, bandstand concerts and the beach. £35,000 is set aside
for town centre projects and features.

I can only ask that you support our events and, if you have ideas for others, please let us know.

Cllr Graham Lawman, Leader of the Council

The results...

Where it all began...

Graham Lawman

I am delighted to be able to introduce our first ever Corporate Plan for Wellingborough Town Council, covering the four years of our term and our first budget proposal as an elected Town Council for 2022/23.

This plan sets out what we aim to achieve as a council, working with our local communities and partner organisations over the next four years and beyond. From this will also follow our Annual Plan for the 2022/23 year.

Wellingborough Town Council is effectively starting from scratch and has no assets or property yet, but, is committed to making the town a better place to live, work and relax. We have made a good start, however, putting our policies in place, running our first event, electing a Mayor again, setting up our committees, launching a brand new website and employing qualified staff.
So, thank you, on behalf of all 23 Town Councillors, for electing us to represent you. We are all there for you and our contact details are published on this website.

I strongly believe that by listening to residents and putting them and our local communities at the heart of everything we do and working in partnership with North Northamptonshire Council, we will be well placed to support the town and enhance it.
We want to protect and enhance our great heritage, but at the same time, help promote a vibrant town.

As a small, new council – albeit large in Town Council terms, we will have limited resources, which we will have to use wisely. We have a keen committed staff of three, who share our aims and will drive us forward, but, we need all the help we can get, so we welcome any offers of volunteering for our programme of events. We want to provide quality services and events that are valued locally and complement what is offered by our partners.

To help us, we would ask that you complete our simple questionnaire about the services we plan to offer.

The answers that you give will be used to consider the final budget early next year. We are keen to hear your views and suggestions.
We know our aspirations are high, but we are committed to achieving them. We will strive to make Wellingborough a place where everyone has the best quality of life.

Cllr Graham Lawman
Leader of the Council