… and “Salisbury Vision” have at long last scrapped some of their sillier ideas for the Market Square.

Having agreed to retain the existing underground public toilets, the proposed water-feature idea has gone (otherwise they’d have risked flooding the loos). Market-traders will keep their customary pitches, the diagonal footpath remains, and almost the only real changes are re-siting the war memorial (sensible), providing some comfortable wooden-slatted benches and replacing the trees.

Good news. But why did we need to go through all the expense of hiring consultants to devise eight variations on a proposed £3m re-development that as far as I can see nobody wanted anyway? Certainly at the original exhibition of artists’ impressions I never heard anyone who was in favour.

Yet it was only when the full implications of the proposals dawned on local people (thanks largely to the Journal) that the resultant public outcry that those behind the scheme finally backed down. Now, ironically, the reduction in spending is being presented as “savings”. What they mean is they’re wasting a bit less of our money.

Congratulations to Bishop Wordsworth’s School…

… on making it through to the next Senior round of Rotary’s national “Youth Speaks” public speaking contest.

I was one of the judges at Andover last week when seven school-teams competed for two places in the regional finals, and was impressed by the very high standard.

Competition was very fierce, and only one point separated the two runners-up. But the BWS trio ticked all the boxes. I hope they make it to the finals.

Fancy a dip?

Talking of Rotary initiatives, the next Salisbury Swimathon is just seven weeks away.

It will be held at the Godolphin pool on April 9. If you haven’t taken part before, you should – it’s great fun. Teams can have a maximum of 8 swimmers taking it in turns to complete as many sponsored lengths as possible in an hour. It’s 5 years since these swimathons started and in that time they’ve raised a lot for local charities. For those taking part there’s an added bonus: a team photograph taken by yours truly. How can you resist an offer like that?

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here