ALEX Tregellas is to be congratulated on his comprehensive and forwardlooking proposals for Salisbury and its city centre developments.

At last we have an outline Vision for Salisbury that fully embraces a future focus for the city that builds on our worldclass science and technology as well as celebrating our mediaeval heritage and cultural strengths.

The time has surely come to add the jewel to Salisbury’s crown, a truly modern university rooted in the life sciences, archaeology, music and drama.

The arrival of our University Technical College (UTC) and new Sixth Form College, alongside the growing commitment of Wiltshire College Salisbury to higher education, make this the critical moment for action.

A University of Salisbury would meet the growing need for continuing professional development across the widening range of disciplines required by a city significantly committed to cutting-edge science.

It would also supply the needs of local students who are reluctant to face the mounting debts that away-from-home higher education imposes. A modern university committed to world-class science and to building an international network of students around disciplines that include languages, archaeology, music, drama and the arts, will build on the pioneering achievements of the Open University.

The future of learning is almost certainly going to be shaped by the fast evolving opportunities to share knowledge and personal support through the web. This does not, however, remove the value of residential learning face to face, but it does generate greater flexibility and, for some at least, a significant reduction in fees.

Each time a new university is mentioned, the cry goes up, “There is no money.”

Last year we learnt that there is money. The government generously proposed spending £500 million on a road-tunnel beneath Stonehenge to protect the site. Some £400 million pounds of that could be saved.

The Parker Plan proposes a carefully designed bypass that would protect not only Stonehenge but also relieve Salisbury of the growing toxic invasion of through-traffic that has no wish to be here in the first place. In this way we can protect our past and secure our future while protecting the interests of the less affluent student.

JOHN POTTER Chair Salisbury RSA Salisbury