THERE is still time for Salisbury District Council, as representatives of the people of Salisbury, to use their influence at a rare moment when the council still have some say in how English Heritage maintains Old Sarum.

English Heritage have still not confirmed their intentions regarding the small bit of unfelled scrub and woodland at the base of the monument.

Some years ago, English Heritage tried to close the footpaths and locals fought to keep them open.

I am hugely grateful to them. For more than ten years, there has been no consultation or notification while three quarters of Old Sarum has been cleared and turned into chalk downland.

There have been reports and statements from the council's planning department on the trees, Wiltshire Wildlife on the chalk downland and English Heritage on how best to maintain an ancient monument.

However, it is a living ancient monument. It is the people who use it who keep it alive and bring out its vitality.

It was built by people and is being preserved by them for future generations.

It has always been a part of Salisbury life within the city boundaries. To us, the people of Salisbury, it is not just a tourist site. Around two hundred people a day walk, jog, play and contemplate life there.

We talk to the tourists, watch and care for the site, pick up litter and pass on any problems we find such as sheep in trouble, fences broken, trees down, campers and fires. We are an integral part of the whole.

So is the wooded area that is being cut down. It is central to the outer circle. It is the portal between the view of Salisbury and the cathedral and the north view to Salisbury Plain. The atmosphere heightens your senses, raises the spirits and is loved by all who use it. If there is a problem with erosion, surely the car park, buses, cars, rabbits, sheep and people are part of it. It has managed to maintain itself for 4,000 years.

I am grateful that Beth Cavanagh, of English Heritage, is "happy to hear from people who care" for Old Sarum (Postbag, January 31).

Ironically, this attempt at public relations at this late stage reveals English Heritage's lack of understanding of how people feel. Besides, what is the point of consulting with English Heritage when they are set on continuing their destructive course?

One of the councillors at one of the many of meetings I have attended in the last few weeks suggested that this was a "dead issue".

On the contrary, there is a groundswell of people who are expressing their outrage at the lethargic approach taken by the council and English Heritage. I am compelled to pursue this matter as far as I can, as a carer rather than a campaigner for this precious resource.

I ask the council to press English Heritage to leave what is left for the people of Salisbury and future generations to enjoy.

MO VINES, Winterbourne Gunner