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Document offers insight into life in Marlborough

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An aerial view of High St from St Peters ChurchThe name might be boring, but a recently-published document gives a fascinating snapshot of life in Marlborough and the surrounding villages (including Ramsbury and Aldbourne, but excluding Burbage and Great Bedwyn, which fall under Pewsey).

A Joint Strategic Assessment has been conducted for each of the 17 local areas (most centred around market towns or large villages) in Wiltshire.

Looking at areas over which Wiltshire Council – which compiled the statistics – has influence, it compares the quality of life in a community to its county neighbours.

Here are some of the findings:

Community

  • The Marlborough Community has an estimated population of 18,120 people, 21 percent of whom are aged 0-17, 57 percent of whom are of working age that’s 18-64, and 22 percent of whom are 65 or over.
  • Life expectancy is slightly higher than the Wiltshire average: 82 for men (against 81 county-wide) and 85 (against a county average of 84) for women.
  • According to the report, although four percent of Wiltshire residents live in some of the most deprived areas in the UK none of them are in Marlborough.

Health, wellbeing and leisure

  • Our children are, by and large, a healthier-than-average bunch: 22 percent of 10-11 year olds are overweight or obese, compared to 33 percent county-wide. That’s still one-in-five junior school kids who could stand to lose some weight, though.
  • In 2014/15 92 percent of five year olds in the Marlborough area had received their second dose of MMR jabs. While this might sound impressive, it needs to be around the county average of 95 percent to reduce the risk of a measles outbreak – and that’s making health officials nervous.
  • On top of that, only 36 percent of people at particular risk from the impact of flu received a vaccination shot in 2015-16.
  • Fifty-nine percent of infants in the Marlborough area were partially or totally breastfed at 6 to 8 weeks – four percent higher than the Wiltshire average.

Children and young people

  • Seven percent of children and young people live in low-income households – lower than the Wiltshire average of 10.6 percent.
  • In 2015, the percentage of children achieving level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths at the end of primary school was higher in the Marlborough area (85 percent) than across Wiltshire as a whole (80 percent).
  • And in the same year, the percentage of young people achieving five r more GCSEs including English and Maths at A* to C was 64 percent, compared to a county average of 61 percent.

Community safety

  • In 2015-16 the rate of reported anti-social behaviour in the Marlborough area was eight reports per 1,000 people – lower than the county average of 19 per 1,000.
  • In the same year, the rate of reported domestic abuse in the area was four incidents per 1,000 people, against a county average of seven per 1,000.

Housing

  • Is the percentage of households in socially rented accommodation higher or lower than the county average? Have a guess. It’s higher: 17.3 percent against a county average of 14.7 percent.
  • The average house price in Wiltshire is £230,000. Guess what it is in Marlborough? £315,000.
  • Guess how many affordable homes were built in the Marlborough area between 2013 and 2016. Six. SIX! No wonder there are currently 54 families waiting on the social housing register.

Transport

  • Four percent of A roads and two percent of B roads were identified as requiring treatment in 2015-16, against a Wiltshire average of three percent (A roads) and four percent (B roads). This will prompt a lot of readers to ask at what point is a road ‘identified as requiring treatment’?
  • Average daily traffic in the area has increased by two percent since 2007.
  • The usage of car parks owned by Wiltshire Council in the Marlborough Area is 69.8 percent – higher than the county average of 52.9 percent.

Economy

  • The largest two employment sectors in Marlborough are education and retail – thank you St John’s, Marlborough College, and our High Street traders!
  • 0.6 percent of working age adults in the Marlborough area receive Jobseekers Allowance – slightly lower than the Wiltshire average of 0.8 percent and a third of the UK average (1.8 percent).
  • One percent of 18 to 24 year olds in the Marlborough area receive Jobseekers Allowance – which is lower than the Wiltshire (1.7 percent) and England (2.5 percent) averages.

Culture

  • 5.3 percent of the local population area employed in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector.
  • Forty percent of residents in the Marlborough area are members of the local libraries – which, surprisingly, is one percent lower than the county average.
  • 53,067 library visits were recorded in the Marlborough area in 2015-16.
  • There are 835 listed buildings and 17 venues hosting cultural programmes in the Marlborough area.

For ease of reading we’ve been selective with the statistics we’ve reproduced. You can view all the stats online at http://wiltshirejsa.org.uk/community-area/marlborough/

 

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