Princess Royal Square.

A NEW group of executive committee members appointed to Weston’s Civic Society is planning to ‘inject new blood’ to raise its profile.

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

The group this week outlined plans to promote more sustainable energy at its headquarters at the Old Town Quarry, in South Road, Weston - while also revealing the body has just under £200,000 in the bank.

The society’s annual general meeting, on Monday, saw the return of officers Martin Taylor, who takes the role of chairman, Chris Barker as secretary and treasurer Bob Smart.

They also welcomed new members and confirmed former Weston Town Council leader Pauline Priestman, Martha Perriam, David Eckett and David Agassiz as executive committee members.

The civic society champions ‘town pride’ and takes an interest in planning, heritage and architecture, among other things.

Mrs Priestman said one of the most important changes she would like to see is the society promoting itself.

She said: “First and foremost we need to raise its profile again. A huge amount of good work has been done but we need again to raise its image and that work will hopefully continue. We need an injection of new blood to raise the profile.”

She also said the £198,874 contained in the society’s funds needs to be used carefully.

She said: “It’s early days at the moment. I’m the new girl on the block and we need to look at the whole picture for the year.

“Obviously people decided to put their names forward with this in mind but at this stage we do not know what needs doing.

One should be very careful with how it’s used. It’s something that needs to be looked at.”

Mrs Priestman said two younger members have been co-opted onto the committee and she hopes they will be formally accepted at the next meeting, when the date is decided.

She said: “I think the word needs spreading about what the society does. Let’s be positive. Getting the message back out to the public is important, so let’s let the people of Weston know.”