I have read the stats quoted in the Journal about shop vacancies in Salisbury.

Recently five stores closed. And two pop ups. Three have opened in their place.

So we lost another two indies. I know of four more that are looking to either offset their lease or close later this year. On Monday I went to meet a friend for lunch, half of the square was shut or empty.

This is our jewel in the city and it was basically half closed.

Whilst celebration of the statistics that you wish to quote is all well and good the retail offering in Salisbury has diminished and will continue to do so unless serious consideration and action is given to enhancing the offering and the parking incentives to bring the shopper back into the city. Stores do not choose to close on a Monday very readily.

I love and support our markets; however they are woefully behind the times and need to be enhanced for the modern shopper. I recently asked market traders about their adverts, they seemed unaware of any advertising.

The market needs new stalls and some of the current stalls require refurbishing, dirty tarpaulin held on with clips needs to be upgraded.

The food market area is fab and would benefit from "litter maintenance" and a consistent level of seating for all.

The trees in the market square are in a state, this needs fixing now.

The concrete skirts that keep disintegrating (and people injuring themselves) need to go and be replaced with something organic (we have an amazing parks team in this city) so the square doesn't look like a grey concrete mass.

Even some retailers may well sponsor them.

Wildwood should be allowed to put seating on the square to draw people across.

This is in no way disrespectful of the memorial and is exactly what the fallen fought for.

Perhaps Wildwood would sponsor a wreath monthly to be placed from the city.

The disabled toilet block (where you can watch foreign visitors pulling at the door desperate to get in) needs to be replaced around the side of the Guildhall with a public street-level toilet for all.

The wrought iron toilet signs need to be brought back, they were Victorian and part of the city heritage. The blocks around the toilets need to be higher so we don't see the disgusting bins, the bins need cleaning.

Apparently the cathedral is aiming at 800,000 extra visitors this year.

What is going to get them dwelling here and spending money so there is return on investment on VisitWiltshire marketing spend?

It may be a great idea for the cathedral to integrate with local retailers and see what can be offered.

You need each other and seeing as visitor numbers at the cathedral were down, next year a plan of collaboration would go a long way.

Thank goodness for the constant battling/advertising of stalwart businesses, like CasaFina, JAS Hair, Anokaa, and others.

Visibility of action is required urgently. As far as a closed Market Square, I don't want to say it, but I advised that this would happen three years ago.

The strategy of tying the evening economy into day trade isn't going to work if there is no day trade.

Hanging a purple flag over a closed pub is not helpful.

In terms of the BID, the city council and Wiltshire Council, what exactly is being done to enhance more trade into this city and increase the retail offering?

Theresa Wood

Strawberry Fox