A longer wait until walkers are welcomed

The town’s application for Walkers are Welcome status was turned down by an accreditation panel on Monday, April 16.

Members of the public were consulted about the scheme in January and February and 650 people signed petitions in support of the campaign.

But the panel said that although the application was strong in many respects it was overly reliant on town council and local authority support.

The campaign’s steering group hopes to resubmit the application in June – but before that it must demonstrate that there is strong support from private enterprises in Sandy.

Membership of the steering group will be widened and extra business support will be sought from the Town Team and the Chamber of Trade. More written evidence of support from businesses will also be gathered.