A COUPLE of weeks ago, on a pleasant sunny evening, I was having a chinwag with a couple of chaps in a pub in town. Richard and Jim (the chaps in question) were saying how pleasant it would be to sit outside on such an evening, having a drink and just generally watching the world go by.

We agreed that this was all fine and dandy and regretted that it’s all too rare in our fine country. We weren’t talking about pub gardens or terraces but public open spaces such as Marlborough High Street and the market places in Chippenham, Salisbury and our own town, Devizes. And we certainly didn’t mean swigging from a can of cheap cider, budget lager or cooking sherry whilst intimidating passers-by.

We were thinking about the sort of drinking, socialising and musing that takes place in the piazzas of Rome, Verona and Padua and the squares of Valletta. Of course our climate is a little more challenging but there are more than a few days a year when we could do it. It would just take the will to put our communal open spaces to better use.

As Tony Sedgwick of the Trust for Devizes said in this paper, just a couple of weeks ago: “Facilities for outdoor dining are limited and seats where people can sit and enjoy the town are few and far between. In the town centre green space is virtually non-existent."

Now, before I continue, I must say that I’m not the biggest fan of the Trust for Devizes. Like many local conservation groups, I feel they represent the sort of chocolate box conservatism that holds us back. At times it’s as if architecture, art and attitudes stopped with the opening salvoes of the First World War.

However, this time, I doff my cap to them when they say that "the Market Place is dominated by cars when it could be a real focus for visitors and shoppers, with ample tables and chairs for outdoor eating and drinking, entertainers and small stalls."

The Market Place is a wonderful asset to the town and deserves to be so much more than a car park. It’s not as if there’s no precedent for removing the parking. It happens each Thursday – the busiest day in town as the space is put to the use for which it was originally intended.

I don’t hold out much hope for this, though, as for many, the car is king and a walk from said car to the final destination is an abomination not to be countenanced.

Most of us recognise the fact that the Earth’s resources are not unlimited and that the place is becoming more crowded and that we need to become more ‘green’. And I mean that in general terms, not as an endorsement of the political group whom few of us take seriously.

The ‘right’ to drive and park almost anywhere often seems to override our environmental sensibilities. Surely that’s got to change.

In this case, it would help if Wiltshire Council set a decent example. But their provision of public transport is not up to scratch, leaving many, especially in the villages, with no option but to drive if they want to get anywhere.

On top of that, they’ve removed free kerbside collection of green waste. From what I’ve seen on collection day, I’d be surprised if 20 per cent of households who previously used the service do so now; they’ll hide garden waste in the household bins, burn it or stick it in the car and drive it up the dump. But then local councils don’t always behave logically.

Devizes Town Council decided, quite rightly, to remove a photo of a previous mayor who’d been convicted of offences against a child. Within a few weeks, they hosted a civic awards ceremony where one of the recipients… well, suffice it to say, you couldn’t make it up…