Malmesbury named Wiltshire's Town of the Year

The town received the accolade at the Wiltshire Life Awards which celebrate the achievements of the county.

Malmesbury’s festivals, beautiful tourist attractions and storied history were all mentioned by the judges, but they were not the only reasons the town was selected.

The judges said: “But what makes a ‘living’ town is not just the attractive setting and interesting history, important though these are to both the inhabitants and visitors, rather it is community cohesion and engagement, flourishing businesses and a sense of future direction – and Malmesbury has all of these, and more.”

Judges also commended the residents for voting to adopt the neighbourhood plan, which sets which parts of the town are protected from housing developments.

They concluded: “This desire to shore up its successes and create a strong framework for the future is why Malmesbury is the Wiltshire Life Town of the Year 2015.”

Announcing the victory at Malmesbury Town Council’s meeting on Tuesday might, Mayor Sue Poole said it was a fantastic achievement.

She thanked Cllr Steve Cox for nominating Malmesbury and the whole town council for their work in making the area worthy of the award.

She said: “No other nominations were read out and they said that there was really one clear winner.”

Cllr Poole added: “I’m absolutely over the moon. It’s fantastic. I went straight on Facebook to say how proud I was of our community, and to be recognised throughout the county is wonderful.

“I think the whole town needs to give itself a big pat on the back and it’s wonderful to think that Malmesbury has been recognised as being such a lovely place to live.”

In addition to the award for the town, former Malmesbury School student and Brinkworth resident Emily Clarke was honoured as Young Person of the Year for her work in gathering more than a million signatures on a petition to help a Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death.

The judges praised Emily for raising the profile of the case with her activism and added that her work was what brought the case to the attention of world leaders, including David Cameron, ultimately resulting in Meriam being freed.

Malmesbury's Robert Peel was also nominated for Photographer of the Year and was awarded third place, despite the ceremony in Devizes featuring several of his photos.

Do you think Malmesbury is a worthy winner of Town of the Year? Have your say below.