THERE is still interest to bring a town beauty spot into public ownership.

Wellington Town Council met on Monday evening (September 7) for its monthly meeting, where the future of The Basins was discussed.

The subject was first explored in May 2018, but little discussion has taken place for some time.

Much of the land is owned by the Crown Estate, and it was thought the council could buy the section they wanted for around £7,000.

In July 2018, it was discovered it was not possible to buy just one section of the disclaimed land, as the Crown Estate did not want it to be seen as ‘an act of management’ for the remainder.

More than a year later, Cllr John Thorne tabled the subject again, with hopes of making some more progress.

He said: “I asked this to be brought forward.

“It came to us many months ago and we simply parked the issue as we were asked to purchased lots of the land all over the place.

“I suggest we commission a legal person to look at what is being offered.

“It is important as we have already spent money on repairs.”

Councillors looked back at the situation as it was presented last year, and explained how the Crown Estate had offered them the land, but that included lots of other plots of land throughout Wellington.

However, it was not clear to the clerk which parts of the land was already owned and which would be up for sale.

Cllr Lithgow echoed Cllr Thorne’s call for a legal professional to dig into the subject.

He said: “It’s an aspiration we have had for some time.

“We wanted to buy just The Basins and then it became too difficult.

“There’s bits and pieces everywhere.

“We should commission someone to produce a map for us before we make any financial decision.”

Town clerk, Kathryn Hemensley, who was not in the post the last time it was discussed, suggested more communications with the Crown Estate to see if it could be made clear which parts of the land were on offer, and to ask for a map.

Cllr Andy Govier added he would like to see the council take ownership of the land, and for the council to then create a fully accessible route to Rockwell Green through the nearby fields.

Members of The Basins volunteer group also attended the meeting to ask why the group had not been consulted over the issue, to which the clerk responded she would try to alert them next time it is set to be discussed.