LAST Friday, as well as attending Bishop Wordsworth’s excellent Higher Education fair, I had several more in a series of conversations about the future of Salisbury.

There are three significant opportunities for Salisbury on the horizon at the moment.

The first is our bid into the Government’s High Streets Fund – a pot of money (£675m) to support local projects that revive and renew existing retail centres.

I am grateful to the BID for pulling together a very effective workshop, attended by an impressive range of stakeholders, including the Mayor, the Dean of the Cathedral and local business leaders. The lively discussion focused on distinguishing Salisbury’s unique needs and issues from wider retail trends.

The second element under consideration is the phased redevelopment of The Maltings. It is a challenging prospect because of the mixed ownership of the site and the changing appetite for risk in the private sector.

I realise that not having the whole plan locked down at the start breeds scepticism but I do not want to turn away much needed investment in an under-appreciated part of Salisbury just because we lack confidence in what the scheme could become. I am hopeful that, as the work progresses, the potential gains for everyone will become clear.

Thirdly, we are in the early days of a consultation leading to the presentation of a Cultural Strategy for Salisbury.

To be clear, this is not a threat to any existing groups or institutions. I want the strategy to value and include all of the activities that already go on here but also to think about how we can build on our strengths to make Salisbury an even better place to live and work – particularly for young, creative people.

All of these projects affect each other and my priority is not just to advance them individually but also to connect different groups of people, so that they can complement each other and fit together into a coherent whole.

This week has been half term for many, but MPs do not deserve a break until we sort out Brexit! My personal role has been to deliver six statutory instruments in the last few days – measures to ensure continuity in financial services in the event of a no deal Brexit.

I am, however, still expecting that this work will ultimately be unnecessary and we will achieve the concessions that will allow a deal to pass, giving certainty to businesses and individuals.