A Wiltshire Council U-turn on cycle lanes is Salisbury is "very welcome", according to a local campaign group.

SOS - Save Our Salisbury wrote to the Journal last week expressing its approval of the council's announcement that it was considering removing the Brown Street/Exeter Street cycle lane.

After consulting residents, the council said it could remove the cycle lanes in March, after finding negative feedback on the traffic scheme.

The consultation had 1,724 responses, and people were asked to say whether they supported or opposed each scheme or if that scheme was not relevant to them - 51 per cent opposed the Brown St/Exeter St changes.

The cycle lanes were rushed through last year to encourage social distancing and green transport.

Cycle lane change is 'very welcome' - SOS letter in full

The announcement by Wiltshire Council that it is considering getting rid of the Brown St/Exeter St cycle lane is very welcome.

SOS – Save Our Salisbury campaigned for its removal, along with a reversal of the People Friendly Streets ban on through traffic, because neither of these projects had been properly consulted on with the people who were most affected by them and they were causing difficulty to residents and businesses.

We are not pro-motoring or anti-cycling, or against sensible measures to improve the environment of our city, and we would welcome the opportunity for our 2,500 members to be involved in consultations on any future schemes via our Facebook page before they are implemented.

This whole sorry saga came about because the views of local people who don’t normally get involved in local politics were not sought or valued by our representatives at city or unitary level.

SOS believes the dominance of tribal party politics is to blame, and is encouraging anyone with an open mind and with Salisbury’s best interests at heart to stand as an independent candidate in the forthcoming local elections.

We don’t have a ‘party line’ of our own, but are happy to offer space on our online platform to anyone non-political with something sensible to say and a willingness to listen.

Yan Webber
Ethem Cetintas
Louis Hodgkinson
Annie Riddle
Sarah Champion
Terri Johnson
SOS Administrators

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