MORE than £400,000 was spent on the short-lived People Friendly Salisbury project last year, it has been reported.

In an article on the "high cost of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods" published last week, Auto Express magazine reported that Wiltshire Council spent £412,000 on the project in the city centre, which began on Wednesday, October 21 last year.

The magazine goes on to say that out of that total, £250,622 went on “consultancy and monitoring” fees, £64,800 was spent on the low traffic zone's construction, £92,250 worth of enforcement cameras were installed, and changes to road signage cost £4,328.

It then reports that Wiltshire Council spent a further £10,000-£15,000 suspending the scheme indefinitely.

When the Journal put these figures - later reported by The Times - to Wiltshire Council, it said the costs incurred for the project have been met by the Swindon and Wiltshire (SWLEP) funding, but would not confirm or deny if the numbers were correct.

Councillor Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “The costs incurred for the People Friendly Salisbury project so far have been met by Swindon and Wiltshire (SWLEP) funding.

“We continue to support the People Friendly Salisbury project and expect to revisit it with renewed support from all stakeholders in the city, at which time the investment already made will be used as intended.”

The council announced the decision to suspend the scheme on November 20 last year, and the suspension came into force at the end of that month.

On December 14, after an extraordinary meeting lasting more than three and a half hours, Salisbury City Council voted to support the reintroduction of the People Friendly Streets scheme.

It was also confirmed last week that £1.3m worth of funding that was due to be a part of the scheme had been reallocated to a separate project in Chippenham, due to the indefinite suspension.

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