About Us | wells-civic-society

Wells Civic Society is a charitable (Charity No. 208574), voluntary organisation aiming to preserve the best of the City's past, to celebrate the present and to shape the future.

Activities of the Society have been curtailed due to the Coronavirus and will now be geared to greater use of the website and electronic communication with members.

In the past we have been very active in a variety of ways, many of which continue via electronic media or whilst observing ‘social distancing’ guidance. These include:

Hosting talks and visits
Awarding Blue Plaques to commemorate historic people and places, Indoor Plaques to celebrate the contribution of long-established local businesses and Architectural Plaques to mark significant buildings.
Monitoring and commenting on planning applications affecting the City
Responding to and influencing Local and national planning policy
Initiating and promoting projects such as the Wells in Mosaic, the survey of Waterways, surveying and contributing to signage strategy, ART360, the BA5 awards; and
Partnering projects such as Wells in Bloom, Heritage Open Days, Somerset Poppies, Save Our Swan, Visit Wells, Meet & Greet, Wells Museum and many more.
Participate in strategic and practical city centre management partnerships; for example the coach-based tourism improvement project, and the Wells Neighbourhood plan
Contributing to the establishment of a Local List and to the Conservation Area Appraisal.
Supporting Local Listing and Heritage Open Days
Explore potential improvements to city centre traffic issues in partnership with the Wells Chamber of Commerce and others
Monitoring and helping to care for the beautiful natural environment, especially the trees, of Wells

The Society's Chair, Chris Winter, is a member of the Steering Group of the Alliance of Historic Cathedral Cities and Towns (ACT), working with Government departments and national policy makers on research into the impact of housing growth on historic cathedral cities. .

Organisation of the Society: An elected committee meets regularly to discuss local issues and to plan future activities. Members of the committee contribute to the various aspects of the running of the organisation, and the projects it initiates and partners, all on a voluntary basis.

There are also a number of honorary appointments:

Vice Presidents: Roger Cookman and Rod Hudsmith

The 2022 Committee comprises:

Chair: Chris Winter - email for any queries about Society matters
Vice Chair: Philip Welch

Hon. Treasurer: Ian Robinson
Hon. Secretary: Jules Tressider (co-opted)
Membership Secretary: Vacancy

Programme Secretary: Vacancy

Member: Adrian I’Anson - email for any queries about the Planning blog
Member: Patrick Brown

Member; Jon Jefferies

Co-optees; Doug Robinson - email for any queries about the website

Pam Crummary

Gerry Clark

The Annual General Meeting is normally held on the second Wednesday of November when the annual reports are presented to members and elections are held

Membership of the Wells Civic Society year runs from October 1st to September 30th and the subscription rates are:

Personal Membership:

Single: £15
Joint: £20

Corporate Membership:

< 10 employees £25 10 - 50 employees £50 >50 employees £100

To join the Society please download and complete the Membership & Gift Aid form, and bring them to one of the evening meetings:

The Membership form also includes a Standing Order form to make annual renewal much easier – Please return this part of the form directly to your bank (note that most banks will not make retrospective payments, so if you join after October 1st, you will need to pay your first year’s subscription by cheque or cash).

If you are a UK tax payer, please complete the Gift Aid section of the membership form. This enables us to reclaim tax on your membership subscription.

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