On 1st April, Wiltshire went Unitary, combining four district councils and a county into a single unitary authority with a population a shade under 450,000. And from buildings to dust carts, the labels and logos have changed:
"Wiltshire - Where Everybody Matters" ... and I'm very glad to have that re-assurance. For all the talk leading up to the merger was about the great things that Unitary will do, based on and for "Salisbury, Trowbridge and Chippenham". But taking that 450,000, this is how the population splits amongst the major towns:
45000 Salisbury
28000 Chippenham
28000 Trowbridge
21000 Melksham
17000 Warminster
14000 Calne
12000 Corsham
11000 Devizes
11000 Westbury
11000 Wootton Bassett
9000 Amesbury
9000 Tidworth
9000 Bradford-on-Avon
8000 Marlborough
6000 Malmesbury
(E&OE - Please let me know of anywhere with a population of more that 5000 that I have missed!)
Dear Councillors, the people of Calne, of Devizes, of Amesbury, the people of Melksham, Warminster and Corsham look forward to
mattering in the new county. And I really hope that you mean
Wiltshire - where everybody matters equally
and in Tisbury and Mere and Ludgershall and Pewsey and Bedwyn and Purton and Avebury and Minety and Porton and Downton and Tilshead and Rushall and Wilton and Patney and Chirton and Chitterne and Codford and Wishford and Lavington and Upavon and Holt and Box and Shrewton and Atworth and Lyneham and Lacock ... Burbage and Bromham, Larkhill and Durrington, Bratton and Rowde too.
(written 2009-04-13, updated 2009-04-17)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z403 - Organisations [58] Call Centres, selling, and a pause for thought - (2004-09-22)
[307] Farming yesterday - (2005-05-10)
[472] Are you free on 29th October - Charity ball - (2005-10-21)
[981] Finalist reception - Wiltshire Business of the Year - (2006-12-13)
[1258] A day looking ahead for Well House Consultants - (2007-07-05)
[1278] West Wilts Show - (2007-07-26)
[1280] West Wilts - no longer Wet Wilts - show - (2007-07-28)
[2012] The Wiltshire Police - (2009-01-29)
[2015] Service Excellence Awards - (2009-01-30)
[2026] Melksham Climate Friendly Group - (2009-02-05)
[2236] Alumni - revisiting and supporting the old University - (2009-06-13)
[2271] Dogs Trust, Dog Show, Newbury - (2009-07-06)
[2574] Summary of Wiltshire Core Strategy responses - (2010-01-13)
[2585] Consultation in Melksham, on Melkshams future - (2010-01-17)
[2807] Canal through Melksham - the options and issues - (2010-06-13)
[2869] Contact Information for Melksham Oak Community School - (2010-07-13)
[2902] Community consultation - a true open input - (2010-08-04)
[3317] Self Portrait (in words) - (2011-06-04)
[3484] A Melksham Timeline - Domesday to present day - (2011-10-17)
[3511] Melksham has a heart - have your picture taken and support the defibrillator appeal - (2011-11-06)
[3604] Melksham Campus - a blog you can read, and a place you can comment - (2012-02-08)
[3677] Some advise for guest speakers at meetings - (2012-03-31)
[3704] The Bowerhill Villager - a newsletter for Bowerhill, Melksham - (2012-04-22)
[3712] Some unpublished and historic pictures - Museum of Melksham - (2012-04-28)
[3774] Melksham - a new dawn - (2012-06-23)
[4020] Melksham Community - Annual Report / MCAP - (2013-02-26)
[4039] Seed Swap at Well House Manor - (2013-03-10)
[4548] Melksham - two small townships, or one big one? - (2015-10-22)
Z301 - Current Affairs [33] 10 Years of experience - (2004-08-30)
[377] A Strengthened City - (2005-07-14)
[614] News in Ireland - (2006-02-20)
[1214] New Serieses for the summer on TV - (2007-06-02)
[1275] Incident in Melksham - (2007-07-24)
[1960] Christmas Survivors - (2008-12-25)
[1987] One Cheer for Local Democracy - Asda in Melksham - (2009-01-11)
[2112] Whatever next ... the joys of being an employer - (2009-04-01)
[2289] pre-Inaugural briefing - Melksham Community Area Partnership - (2009-07-15)
[2508] Community Area Partnership - inaugural AGM - (2009-11-20)
[2514] The road show has been - where now? - (2009-11-27)
[2602] East of Melksham - Building Work Starts - (2010-01-28)
[2666] Random thoughts on Melksham Town Planning and development - (2010-03-08)
[2776] Regional Spatial Strategy and the next 20 years - Whence Wiltshire under the new government? - (2010-05-22)
[2852] Atworth Village Fete - on the Melksham Community Area Partnership stand - (2010-07-04)
[2904] Melksham Area Board meeting of last week - (2010-08-04)
[2982] Travel, Transport and Tourism - A vision for Melksham, 2026 - (2010-10-03)
[2995] A river in Melksham is not just for boaters. - (2010-10-11)
[3028] VAT rise in January - it is really up 14% not just 2.5% - (2010-11-03)
[3030] Liquorice allsorts and Dolly Mixtures - (2010-11-05)
[3126] Car Parking in Melksham - thoughts on the proposed scheme, and wider thoughts too - (2011-01-09)
[3183] Redevelopment on the banks of the Avon in Melksham - (2011-02-25)
[3228] What can you take on a public footpath? Pram? Wheelbarrow? Dog? Shopping Trolley? Horse? Cycle? - (2011-04-03)
[3231] Footpath, Bridleway, Byway, Road used as Public Path - (2011-04-04)
[3265] Alternative Vote (AV) - cutting the crap - (2011-04-25)
[3282] The future of canal management and charities - Kennet and Avon Canal bias - (2011-05-08)
[3347] The Anthony trial - Orange County, Florida. Thoughts on conclusion - (2011-07-06)
[3357] Business, priorities, and volunteering - (2011-07-14)
[3385] Do university courses teach the right things for life at work later on? - (2011-08-10)
[3467] Charities v Charitable. The cost of collecting your donation. - (2011-10-06)
[3646] Exploring Melksham with a film maker - (2012-03-09)
[3720] Melksham ATC - freedom of the town - (2012-05-05)
[4429] Wind Turbines - beauty or menace? - (2015-02-17)
[4599] Happy Christmas - and a Christmas thought - (2015-12-24)
[4637] People matter - but there is a tradeoff between different people in there - (2016-02-01)
[4691] Real life PHP application using our course training MVC example - (2016-06-05)
M200 - Well House Manor - Wiltshire [829] Where to go within 30 minutes of Melksham - (2006-08-11)
[942] Index of Pictures - (2006-11-24)
[946] Look around this mouth. - (2006-11-26)
[971] Wiltshire letterboxes - (2006-12-07)
[1106] Spring Pictures - (2007-03-11)
[1112] Bank Holiday country breaks in Melksham, Wiltshire - (2007-03-17)
[1129] Golfing, Wiltshire (near Melksham) - (2007-04-01)
[1156] Two by One by Wiltshire - (2007-04-20)
[1399] Pictures Framed - (2007-10-21)
[1428] Travel Across Wiltshire - the game - (2007-11-11)
[1521] Evening drive across the roof of Wiltshire - (2008-01-27)
[1859] Wiltshire at dawn - the tourist trail - (2008-10-29)
[1981] Bitter cold - (2009-01-07)
[2176] Balloon Journey in Wiltshire - (2009-05-12)
[2279] Understanding the new local government structure in Wiltshire - (2009-07-11)
[2288] Wiltshire Community Area Partnerships - (2009-07-15)
[2411] Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside - (2009-09-19)
[2594] Melksham Area - your community view is sought - (2010-01-23)
[2713] History is all around us - (2010-04-09)
[2750] Views of Wessex - (2010-05-03)
[2882] Seeing Wiltshire - from a Melksham base - (2010-07-21)
[2888] Recent Pictures - (2010-07-27)
[2923] Fresh air and beautiful places in Wiltshire - (2010-08-15)
[3513] Olympic Torch - dates and places in Wiltshire in 2012 - (2011-11-08)
[3723] Bank Holiday Monday, so it was pouring with rain. - (2012-05-07)
[3729] Then and now pictures of Melksham - on show through the summer - (2012-05-11)
[3800] Fancy a weekend away? Try Well House Manor in Melksham, Wiltshire - (2012-07-09)
[3806] 2011 Census results - initial figures for Wiltshire. - (2012-07-17)
[3989] Plenty to see and do - even in Winter - on a Well House Manor weekend - (2013-01-24)
[4084] New Pictures - Melksham Pack Horse Bridge - (2013-05-12)
[4702] Up and down TransWilts - some pictures off the rails! - (2016-07-07)
Some other Articles
Learning about LurchersPatterns in street namesJavascript - move cursor over image to change a different image.Nothing beats Perl to solve a data manipulation requirement quicklyWiltshire - where everybody mattersCall in the professionals!Weeding out old phone numbersWe have lost a regular business guestBuilding down expectationsUsing Python with OpenOffice