Wellingborough Town Council to take on responsibility of running Waendel Walk from 2023

A councillor said he felt like Wellingborough Town Council (WTC) had a gun to their head as they voted to take on the responsibility of running the Waendel Walk in 2023.

Last night (January 5) the town council held a meeting to discuss the international walk’s future after discussions with North Northamptonshire Council (NNC).

The meeting, held at Swanspool House, heard from NNC leader Cllr Jason Smithers who frequently reiterated before a vote was cast that the Waendel Walk would continue regardless.

He said: “North Northamptonshire Council is absolutely committed to running this event.”

Currently, the Waendel Walk is set to take place on May 12, 13 and 14 with several different distances people can travel, ranging from 5km to 42km.

The agenda for the Wellingborough Town Council meeting held on January 5 noted: “Based on the budget created by the town clerk, the Waendel Walk could be run cost neutral in 2023. A contingency budget is available for the events which were scheduled to run by the town council, to support the event.”

However, Wellingborough mayor Cllr Jonathan Ekins expressed his concerns.

He said: "We need to be as clear as we can be, and as transparent as we can be. Also we need to be realists. I’m afraid my own opinion is that we’re not realistic, we can’t do that, and we haven’t got the resources.”

He added: “Why should we commit another £30,000 of our own precept money into an event which we don’t have to take on this time. We can let them (NNC) take it this year, and then we (WTC) can then set ourselves up for a better shot at it next year."

The mayor wasn’t the only councillor sceptical of taking on the 2023 Waendel Walk. Cllr Anthony Stevens of the Croyland ward said: “I do feel like we’ve had a gun to our head having this dropped on us in January when it is being held in May.”

The Waendel Walk is the only international walk hosted in the UK, and Wellingborough Town Council managing the event alongside the Wellingborough Carnival, Party in the Park, and the Christmas Lights Switch-on is a monumental effort. Cllr Andrew Scarborough said it is ‘the first big test of Wellingborough Town Council’.

Having celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2019, the Waendel Walk was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak but returned in 2021, albeit to a far smaller scale. Attendance fell to 3,200, almost half that of pre-pandemic levels.

The 2022 event saw negative feedback due in large part to the lack of involvement from experienced volunteers.

Earls Barton parish councillor and Waendel Walk veteran Peter Morrall said of last night’s result: “When you’ve been involved in something for such a long time you don’t want to see it go down the gurgler. It should have a local ownership.”

NNC’s Cllr Martin Griffiths (Ind), the former leader of the now-defunct Borough Council of Wellingborough, said: “Wellingborough contributed over £20m to the creation of the NNC and I can't help thinking it is a cop out for the unitary council to expect the new town council to step in pick up the tab and organise this much-loved event.”