Agenda item

Further to the Extraordinary meeting on 10 October, the Chairman will give an update on the community working group to consider new proposals for the refurbishment of the Marketplace.

The Area Board will ratify the Terms of Reference of the group.

The Chairman referred to the Working Group which had been set up by the Area Board following the 10 October meeting.  The outcomes from discussions at the three meetings of the working group had been summarised in a document which was tabled.  This also summarised the feedback from the Area Board’s survey which had received 1545 responses, and the views expressed in the petitions which related to the proposed refurbishment of the Marketplace.

The views expressed in the survey and through the working group meetings were broadly consistent in terms of supporting the majority views expressed at Area Board meetings and through the petitions.  These supported retaining the healthy trees, maintaining the two distinct spaces of the Guildhall square and the Market square, leaving the war memorial in its current location, and removing all parking from the square, with replacement disabled spaces being provided nearby.

One issue where no consensus had been reached was on the four large London Plane Trees at the Western edge of the square.  The Area Board was asked to decide on whether these should be retained and managed, or replaced.

Questions and comments were raised as follows:

·         The view was expressed that the four large London Plane trees were too big and blocked out sunlight and the view of the old buildings, along with causing damage to gutters, drains and foundations.  As such, some people considered that these trees should be removed and replaced with trees more appropriately sized to the location.

·         However, the view was also put that these trees were extremely healthy and formed an essential part of the character of the marketplace.  It was also considered that the size of the trees could be managed by pollarding rather than replacement.

·         In response to questions the Chairman confirmed that advice from Salisbury City Council, and from Wiltshire Council’s Tree Officer, would form part of the design brief.

·         Concern was raised that a number of people were unable to view the Remembrance Day ceremony due to the current location of the War Memorial.  However, it was noted that the survey and straw polls at previous Area Board meetings had shown a majority support for not moving the War Memorial.  The Area Board supported the proposal to add the missing names to the memorial.

·         It was noted that Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet had agreed to fund the maintenance of the trees in February 2012, and annually thereafter.

·         The Area Board welcomed the proposal to test the surfacing materials for suitability in terms of use by wheelchair users, and durability with traffic for the market and fair(s).

·         It was noted that the Salisbury Vision continued to work on other projects such as the Maltings and the Central Car Park.

Decision

1.    The Salisbury Area Board notes and endorses the views captured by the process of the working group, the survey and the petitions which have been submitted in relation to the Marketplace.

2.    The Area Board supports the view that the four large London Plane trees should be retained as part of the refurbishment of the square, and that they should be pollarded, along with all other trees in the marketplace which are in need of pollarding.

3.    The Area Board also supports the view that the missing names should be added to the war memorial.

4.    The Area Board agrees that these views should now go forward to Wiltshire Council officers to develop a design brief for the architects, and that the design should come back to the Area Board for public debate and consideration.

ACTION: Brian Johnson