Have your say on the future of Salisbury city centre

Wiltshire Council, with the support of Salisbury City Council and planning and urban designers Tibbalds, is planning an exciting future for Salisbury, and they need your views on what you’d like the city centre to look like in the future.

The Salisbury Central Area Framework (CAF) will set out a deliverable outline to create a more vibrant and attractive city centre, but we need your comments to help shape the plan.

The CAF will guide several different projects and initiatives in the city, which will be delivered by many different stakeholders and partners, including Wiltshire Council, Salisbury City Council, the Business Improvement District and prospective private developers, and will ensure all these stakeholders are working towards the same goals in terms of the city centre’s design, management and maintenance.

It builds on previous consultations and brings together many different projects and initiatives under one single document that, crucially, will be deliverable. It will also help to inform the emerging Neighbourhood Plan and Local Plan Policy.

The survey looks for your opinions on people-friendly streets in the city, better connections to the city’s green spaces, new character areas, development opportunities and more.

Pauline Church, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and South Wiltshire Recovery, said: “Salisbury is a historic, characterful and in many ways a successful place. However, in recent years, a combination of the economic downturn, the changing role of small cities, and the incident in 2018 have threatened its vibrancy.

“We recognise the need to reinvigorate the city centre to ensure Salisbury is as successful and resilient as it can be, and the Salisbury Central Area Framework will help us define the best possible strategy to make positive improvements.

“We want to deliver a strategy that is widely supported, based in commercial reality, sets out a clear path towards delivery, promotes better design quality, and helps to attract inward investment.

“But we can’t do it without your comments, so we’re looking for your views and ideas, and we want to know what you think about some of the suggestions and ideas we have to make Salisbury city centre a better place to live, work and visit.”

Councillor John Farquar, of Salisbury City Council, said: ““This is an excellent opportunity for residents and businesses to have an input, as we shape our city’s development in the coming years. Their participation is an important element of the planning process, and an opportunity for them to leave their mark.

“I hope that the Salisbury community will engage enthusiastically and imaginatively to allow this city to be the best we can make it.”

The consultation is open until 5pm on Friday 9 August; to find out more information and to take part, go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/salisbury-future