THE Salisbury Vision is being wound up after Wiltshire Council pulled the plug on funding.

The county has also withdrawn support for similar regeneration projects in Trowbridge and Chippenham.

The decision was taken in secrecy. Even Vision board members did not know about it.

One of them, councillor Ricky Rogers said: “I think the Vision has run its course and serves no useful purpose anyway.

“On the other hand, as chairman of Salisbury area board I’d have thought I’d have been one of the first to be consulted about it being wound up, but I haven’t been.”

The Vision has not held a public meeting for at least a year and its website can no longer be accessed.

The Journal had heard a rumour about the closure and asked Wiltshire as long ago as March 5 to clarify the situation but despite repeated requests, only received confirmation on Wednesday, too late to print.

The Vision was set up to promote projects including the redevelopment of the Maltings and central car park – now in the hands of developers Stanhope ¬– and of the Churchfields industrial estate, where little progress has been made.

Questions about the Vision’s future were first asked in 2013 when the then chairman, Sir Christopher Benson, announced his decision to resign.

Wiltshire Council has issued a statement blaming “ongoing pressures on the council’s budget and the evolution of the partnership and delivery landscape within the county and the three Vision areas”.

It points out that its government funding has been cut by more than £15million this year.

And it says it will “continue driving forward the regeneration of Salisbury, Chippenham and Trowbridge, working alongside local partners with a stake in the county’s economic future”.#

After this story went online, the Journal received a further statement from Wiltshire Council, which read: "The Vision Board has not been scrapped - the council has withdrawn its direct resourcing for the partnership. 

"The future of the Vision is a matter for the Vision Board members to decide.    

"The decision applies to all three Vision partnerships.  The Trowbridge and Chippenham Vision Boards have recently met and had the decision explained to them at these meetings, it has not been possible to do the same in the case of Salisbury as no meeting had been arranged, so the Salisbury board members were emailed about the decision."

It is understood the board members received that email yesterday, as the Journal was due to go to press.