FURTHER to the recent correspondence in these pages, I wish to state that everyone will have their different ideas as to how the Guildhall and Market Square should look.

I am sure everyone would agree that they are very important open spaces in our beautiful and historic city.

Indeed, the area could be described as the city's heart.

The opportunity to develop and restore them, which the vision process offers, is one that seldom occurs and we should all take the opportunity to think about this important part of our city.

Recent public consultations over the past two years have shown that the redevelopment and restoration of these important areas is one of the things the citizens of Salisbury most desire in the treatment of their historic city.

To do nothing and leave these two spaces as a car park would be a detriment both to our generation and to future generations of people who love and value our city.

Please have an open mind as we, together, consider the future of these two important spaces.
IAN NEWMAN, Chairman - Salisbury City Centre Management

  • MAY I hasten to join the ten per cent of local residents who disagreed with the plans for the Market Place.

Unfortunately, I missed the consultation for the market place. There may have been others who, like me, missed this revelation.

So exactly what proportion of the electorate are represented by the 81 per cent for and the ten per cent against, as mentioned in a letter to Postbag by the Vision's director, nobody knows. I would argue that this is a figure the visionaries involved in this promotion are anxious to keep obscure.

I oppose the plans because local government "visions" are invariably expensive, involve fraudulent charades of consultation, provide jobs for the boys, and distract members, officers and employees of the council from doing their basic duties properly and well.

Besides - there are problems with the draft.

A water feature; what a lovely receptacle for litter. Attractive seats; perfect for our local layabouts to relax on. Signing; for heavens sake lets scrap any more signing until we've tackled these witless graffiti morons; and there is sure to be some fancy paving with it - what an opportunity for the utility companies to make unsightly holes or the gum chewers to make their mess.

Do the obvious. Close the Market Square for car parking and make it the logical sequel to Park and Ride.

Encourage more markets and smarter ones (all our traders could take a lesson from the French Market). Tidy up the access to the loos and replace their Heath Robinson turnstiles.
TOM RIDOUT, Salisbury

  • RESTRUCTURING town centres is an expensive and time-consuming exercise.

Doing it in an old city like Salisbury even more so.

Neither is the city's record very good at this sort of thing.

The road to nowhere mess, which made us world famous.

The problems with the Old George Mall and adjacent car park only lasted a mere 25 years.

The Gigant Street car park, reworked to make it safer after only ten years and the swimming pool after 30 years.

Now we are to refurbish the Market and Guildhall Squares only seven years after its last reincarnation. Why?

People speak with pride about the Cathedral and its Close full of buildings hundreds of years old and yet the city seeks to change every few years.

Using a councillor from Wilton to oversee our Market Square, while his own square is shabby and rundown, must bemuse his voters and Salisbury's alike.

How a former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce forgot the refurbishment of our High Street in 1998 where he had an office I'm not quite sure.

Salisbury is acting like a puppet to other people's ideas or visions. The question is just who is pulling the strings.
COLIN DULLER,West Harnham