A “SPECTACULAR” water feature and electricity provider is the latest project a community group wants to bring to Salisbury.

Members of Salisbury Community Energy (SCE), want to install a Zuppinger water wheel on the Bishop’s Mill site in the Maltings, to be both a tourist attraction and generate electricity through water.

To further shed light on what a water wheel could bring to Salisbury, councillors and members of the public interested in the hydropower scheme were invited to view a model already in place in Hampshire earlier this week.

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The trip to the water wheel site on Monday was attended by SCE founder Alison Craig, SCE director Caroline Lanyon, councillor Simon Jackson and hydro consultant Keith Wheaton Green, as well as other hydropower enthusiasts and members of partner charity, Serve On.

The indoor wheel has been in full operation for the past six months, creating electricity by spinning water released from a reservoir.

After the trip Alison said the prospect of a water wheel coming to Salisbury is “completely thrilling”, adding: “They [water wheels] are just so massive and powerful, and the fact you can just turn it on and it will chug for 100 years generating electricity from water is just wonderful.

“It would be a spectacular asset to Salisbury for so many years.”

Alison said the feature will be both a tourist attraction because of its appearance and size, as well as a new means to create electricity.

She added: “It would be such an attractive site to have in the centre of our city, and would be such a tourism draw.

“Other Zuppinger water wheels have drawn in so many crowds - people love them.”

Following the SCE organised trip Cllr Jackson said: “I won’t be making any further comments but I attended the trip to gather facts and background and make acquaintance with the technology, to then decide on further assessment.”

Initial agreements have been made by Wiltshire Council and owners of the Bishop’s Mill site to install the wheel in the city.

The project is now subject to planning permissions and further discussions of the model including feasibility and costs, for more information visit the SCE website.