AS I’m newly back in Salisbury, I have only just discovered that the city has Purple Flag status, which recognises excellence in management of city centres come nightfall.

The title is assessed annually and, after receiving it in 2012, it was re-awarded last autumn. I'm thrilled that the city has been deemed to be “supported by good transport links”, has “clear, safe, convenient pedestrian links”, and is “convenient, functional and attractive at night”.

However, I am struggling to see evidence of a couple of the others – notably that Salisbury is “alive after five” and is “appealing at night for all age ranges”.

Following a light sneeze of office-workers at about 5pm, the streets are pretty much empty, while I feel that certainly 30- to 40- somethings have no real presence in Salisbury, and therefore their interests are not clearly reflected.

Friday and Saturday nights are undisputedly the domain of late teens and early 20-somethings, and there are some lovely restaurants that appeal across the post-teen age range, but I feel that the city is lacking something – buzz and vibrancy.

The arts festival is such a wonderful event and there are other times of year when we flock into the city centre – the switching-on of the Christmas lights and the opening of the Christmas market are two examples. But, unless there is something specifically organised, this city pride and sense of community seems to dissipate into vapour.

There's no denying that Salisbury is a beautiful city – I'm just not sure we're making the most of it after nightfall. Is Salisbury like the pretty ones at school – always relying on their good looks and not developing a strong personality?

I'm hoping that the newly-renovated market square will encourage a little more café culture and al fresco socialising and am happy to venture into town of an evening and see what happens. So, if you see a lone woman sitting at a table with a glass of red wine and a small dish of mixed nuts, please do come over and say hello.

Who knows - if there are enough of us, it may even warrant a few heat lamps, and then there's no turning back.