FOLLOWING my debate on the future of the A303, which, as anticipated, provoked a considerable range of reactions, it was back to a busy programme of constituency engagements.

I came back from London at midnight on Wednesday in order to be ready to host the Planning Minister Nick Boles on a visit to the New Forest on Thursday, along with councillors Julian Johnson and Leo Randall.

The forest constitutes a small but important part of this constituency, and the purpose of the visit was for the minister to gain a broader understanding of how the national park contributes to economic growth.

His visit coincided with an announcement on planning, which has seen the Government streamline 7,000 pages of guidance into just 1,000 in an online resource.

This includes changes that reaffirm our protection for the countryside by allowing local councils to block greenfield development if the local infrastructure cannot cope, but also brings forward new measures to incentivise the redevelopment of brownfield sites by exempting them from community charges.

On Friday, I participated for the second time in a British Medical Association initiative allowing MPs to spend time experiencing the life of a GP practice.

I am grateful to St Ann’s surgery for allowing me to both meet a patient group and to talk to the partners about the challenges of running a teaching practice and the opportunity that their greater responsibilities give them to make financial decisions based on local clinical need.

The visit built on my time spent with Bemerton Heath surgery and I very much look forward to gaining another perspective when I visit Three Swans at the end of the month.

Given I was also in attendance at the official opening of Salisbury Medical Practice a couple of weeks ago and will have great pleasure of opening the new Tanday Pharmacy there soon, my exposure to the NHS has been extensive of late.

From the surgery, it was on to Toozali Arts to learn about the difficulties of unlocking upfront arts funding in these days of match funding and then to a meeting of primary school heads to discuss the concept of academy status and its relevance in this area.