CITY Council leader Liz Sirman has criticised the council's decision to support the reintroduction of the People Friendly Streets scheme in 2021. 

It comes after the council voted 12-10 in favour at an extraordinary full council meeting last night. 

Councillor Sirman, who was appointed leader of the council in November, had previously stated she did not support at the scheme.

Cllr Sirman said: "I was very disappointed that Salisbury City Council voted narrowly to support the return of the ETRO and LTZ in 2021.

"A clear majority of my Conservative colleagues and I could not support the motion to bring back the ETRO as there was neither a guarantee of it returning to Salisbury City Council for a decision nor a reference to a consultation with Salisbury residents.

"There was also no recognition of the unique challenges of the pandemic which caused the scheme to be suspended in the first place."

Cllr Sirman says she "fully supports" the aims of the Central Area Framework and the desire to improve Salisbury", but added: "I believe that a refreshed transport proposal must have wider support from the public and only come back in 2021 after the pandemic restrictions are lifted".

Cllr Sirman added: "It must also be remembered that over 60 per cent of the public statements sent to the city council opposed the ETRO returning next year. I make absolute no apology for standing up for Salisbury residents and will continue to fight for them in the remaining five months of our term."

Campaign group Save Our Salisbury also criticised the decision. 

A spokesperson said the group is "disappointed but not downhearted".

It added: "The city council failed to give Wiltshire and the SWLEP the ringing endorsement that they wanted in order to justify bringing back the Low Traffic Zone in its current form, and the final voting procedure was shambolic.

"The meeting should have been told at the outset that more than 60 per cent of public comments sent to the council were opposed to the LTZ. We will continue to campaign for much fuller public consultation on the detail of any future traffic reduction scheme.

"We'd like to make it clear that we are not opposed to environmental improvements for Salisbury. But they must work for the whole city - its residents and businesses and those from surrounding villages who rely on it as a service centre. The two businessmen who spoke on our behalf last night made it clear that the LTZ would hinder rather than help them.

"We hope councillors will now focus on ensuring that the other elements of the associated funding package - which would mean popular measures like the refurbishment of Culver Street car park - will NOT be withdrawn in a fit of pique. The city cannot be blackmailed into accepting ill-conceived schemes."