AROUND 50 people met in Salisbury at the weekend to take part in the first people’s assembly.

Organised by the Salisbury Democracy Alliance (SDA), the event on March 1 served as an opportunity for people to discuss what they want to change about the city and the country.

This was the first of three such assemblies, with two more to be held in April and June.

Mark Potts, the chair of the SDA, said he was delighted both with the turnout and the enthusiasm people brought to the task.

He added: “It was a great success and we are looking forward to the next two assemblies.”

The assembly featured discussions on the need for more affordable housing, with attendees united in opposition to developing on floodplains.

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A spokesperson for the SDA said: “Many people feel left out of the present political process and have concerns and ideas they feel are not listened to by politicians.

“Concern was expressed about the environment and they wanted more effort put into making developers meet their planning obligations and greater pedestrianisation of the city centre.

“Concern was also expressed about river pollution and the need for effective regulation.

“One interesting suggestion was the creation of a college for the performing arts.

“The city has a first-rate theatre, and a college would be a useful addition to the local scene as well as encourage more young people to stay.”

SDA is supported by Assemble, an organisation training and funding grassroots groups to fix the power imbalance, which they say is reducing the value of democracy in the UK.

An assembly is a big neighbourhood meetup where people agree on what needs to change and then agree to do something about it.

SDA will hold three assemblies before creating a community charter, which will contain five changes people want to see in the city.

The alliance will present the charter to Salisbury City Council to address.

Matters of national relevance will be passed up to the House of the People – a new democratic chamber for the UK being inaugurated in July.

The SDA runs the monthly Democracy Cafes in the library, and details of this and future alliances can be found at https://salisburydemocracyalliance.org.