At last normality is becoming the norm!

After the most extraordinary year Salisbury and Amesbury are at last getting back to business as usual.

Last week Boots in Amesbury was handed back following testing and cleaning by specialist teams. 

This is welcome news for local people as we know that this store is a popular local facility, and it will reopen soon following some maintenance work.

Only two sites; the Sergei Skripal’s house and Charlie Rowley’s flat are still undergoing cleaning by the specialist teams.

All the other affected sites are now either back in use, or will be very soon.

All I can say is thank goodness - after a challenging few months we can at last focus on the future and how we will rebuild confidence in Salisbury and Amesbury.

Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport visits Salisbury

The ongoing support of government ministers will help us to rebuild this confidence.

Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport visited last week and gave his commitment to support the recovery programme; particularly the redevelopment of the Maltings and the creation of a new cultural quarter that will bring together the arts, theatre, entertainment and heritage as an exciting new attraction for visitors.

This year has seen several ministerial visits and all have pledged their support.

This can only be a good thing for Salisbury and Amesbury as we know that it will take time, funding and effort to make our city and town better than they were before the incidents of March and June.

How Salisbury is seen in the future is something we can all get involved in and have our say.

All of us that live, work, study or visit the city are invited by Visit Wiltshire to share our views on what would make Salisbury even better and help to promote it to visitors and tourists across the globe.

The survey is available here. I have my views and have already completed the survey.

Please get involved. It’s vital that we look to the future and we do all we can to attract and encourage visitors to our beautiful city that has so much to offer and, with the redevelopment plans, will have even more!