Gillingham

Gillingham is the most northerly town in Dorset. In the last twenty years it has grown particularly rapidly and has been successful in attracting a variety of the new industries. The town's population has now grown to over 11,000, most of whom live in recently constructed and competitively priced housing. Gillingham is important as a service and shopping centre for the surrounding villages. The town has land available for employment purposes. An internal relief road, built in the early 1990's, has improved the main shopping street in the town.

Communications

Gillingham is located 4 miles NW of Shaftesbury at the junction of the B3095 and B3081. The A303 trunk road is only 4 miles away. The town has its own railway station on the Exeter to London line.

Education

Gillingham pyramid area:
8 primary schools, 1 secondary school.
The secondary school for the area
Gillingham School (1,768 pupils- 2009)

Commercial land

Between 1994-09, 12.2 hectares of industrial land has been developed in Gillingham. The total area of land with permission or allocated in local plans is 4.0 hectares.

Crime - domestic burglaries

Rate per 1,000 households 2008/09

area	rate
Gillingham	4.6
DCC Dorset	4.1
South West	8.2
England and Wales	12.2

Population

Latest population figure (2008 mid year estimate) for the town (Gillingham Parish) 11,670

Year	1921	1931	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
Census population (enumerated)	3,290	3,270	3,350	3,620	4,050	5,440	6,740	9,340

Housing growth

Year	98	99	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Housing development	81	51	27	61	188	183	202	133	224	98	25	13

Note: figures allow for losses from re-development etc.

The 2001 Census records 4,211 dwellings in Gillingham.
Since 2001, a further 1,066 have been built giving a total of 5,277 dwellings.
At March 2009, a further 51 units have permission and 90 have been allocated in local plan.

Index of deprivation, 2007

(Figures show SOA ranking out of 247 SOAs in Dorset with 1 being the most deprived)

SOA	Multiple	Income	Employment	Education	Health	Services	Crime	Living
Gillingham Coldharbour	237	241	234	135	212	179	217	227
Gillingham Lodbourne	144	80	163	42	114	154	220	141
Gillingham Town	87	56	98	52	103	123	73	79
Gillingham Wyke	200	200	126	81	143	186	187	206
Milton	202	194	238	150	224	69	232	168

SOA = Super Output Area (minimum 400 households or 1,000 population) Note: The figures in the health column are revised from those published in the 2008 Dorset Databook.

House prices

Dwelling type	average price
Detached	£236,878
Semi-detached	£160,646
Terraced	£151,619
Flats/Maisonettes	£123,100

Land Registry average prices (July-September 2009)
(Prices may be affected by low number of sales)

Area
Approx 'built-up' area = 350 hectares (865 acres)

Local authority revenue

Year	Council tax payable
Council tax band D for year 09/10	£1,567.31
Council tax band D for year 08/09	£1,510.11
Council tax band D for year 07/08	£1,423.97
Council tax band D for year 06/07	£1,357.79
Council tax band D for year 05/06	£1,308.56
Council tax band D for year 04/05	£1,243.21
Council tax band D for year 03/04	£1,163.34
Council tax band D for year 02/03	£1,020.21
Council tax band D for year 01/02	£933.21
Council tax band D for year 00/01	£873.45
Council tax band D for year 99/00	£825.36

Car availability, 2001 (% of households)

Number of cars	percentage
No car	18.5%
1 car	49.1%
2 cars	25.8%
3+ cars	6.5%

2001 Census data:

Gender breakdown	Gillingham	Dorset
Resident Population	9,148	390,979
Males	4,332	188,780
Females	4,801	202,199

Age structure (%) - 2001 Census data

Age range	Gillingham	Dorset
0-15	18.4	17.9
16+17	2.3	2.4
18-44	32.5	29.6
45-59	16.8	20.8
60-84	27.0	26.2
85+	3.4	3.1

Ethnicity (%) - 2001 Census data

Ethnicity	Gillingham	Dorset
White	99.1	98.7
Non-white	0.9	1.3

Household characteristics - 2001 Census data

Household category	Gillingham	Dorset
Number of All Household Spaces	4,112	178,065
% Second Residences / Holiday Homes	0.5	2.8
% Vacant Household Spaces (no residents)	2.0	2.9
Number of Households (with residents)	4,010	167,998
% of Households with No Car/Van	18.1	17.0
% of Households with 2 or more Cars/Vans	32.4	36.7
% of Households without all Basic Amenities (Bathroom &/or Heating)	5.0	7.2

Household composition (%) - 2001 Census data

Householder status	Gillingham	Dorset
Pensioner	35.9	33.4
Married Couples	35.1	37.8
Co-habiting Couples	8.1	7.0
Lone-parent	6.1	6.8
Owner Occupied	79.9	76.3
Renting Publicly	11.1	12.1
Renting Privately (& other)	9.0	11.6

Economic activity-2001 Census data

Employment category	Gillingham	Dorset
Economically Active Population (16-74 yrs)	4,247	178,519
% Employed: Part-time	19.9	20.9
% Employed: Full-time	59.1	55.3
% Self-employed	15.8	17.6
% Unemployed (Economically Active)	2.4	3.1

Economic inactivity - 2001 Census data

Economic inactivity category	Gillingham	Dorset
Economically Inactive Population (16-74 yrs)	1,999	96,674
% Retired	61.4	56.1
% Student	5.8	7.9
% Looking after Family / Home	16.0	17.5
% Permanently Sick / Disabled	10.1	11.4

Occupational characteristics - 2001 Census data

Skill category	Gillingham	Dorset
% High Skill	31.6	39.7
% Low Skill	24.5	18.7

Qualifications - 2001 Census data

Qualifications category	Gillingham	Dorset
% with No Qualifications	28.6	26.2
% with Higher Qualifications (level 4+)*	6.8	18.3

* First degree; Higher degree; NVQ levels 4 and 5; HNC; HND; Qualified Teacher Status; Qualified Medical Doctor; Qualified Dentist; Qualified Nurse; Midwife; Health Visitor.

Health - 2001 Census data

Health category	Gillingham	Dorset
% with Long-term Illness / Disability	19.0	19.2
Health: % Good	69.1	68.1
Health: % Not Good	7.4	8.4
% Providing Unpaid Care	7.9	10.8
% in Communal Establishment	1.3	2.6

Retail profile - total town floorspace

61 shops/78,000sq.ft. (2005)

Town centre:

Mainly small shops, but including Focus, Lidl, Somerfield and Waitrose.

Catchment area:

The shopping catchment for Gillingham (major food shopping) extends around 3 miles in an E&W direction, but further to the N&S. The town competes with Wincanton to the West and Shaftesbury to the south-east. The Dorset population within the catchment is around 12,100 (mid 2001)

Industrial estates

Ambassador Trade park, east stour (1.3h), Brickfields Industrial Estate (2.92h), Brickfields Business Park (14.96h), Filly Brook Business Park, Buckhorn Weston (0.2h), Kingsmead Business Park (1.4h), Station Road Industrial Estate (1.77h), Tomlins Lane Industrial Estate (0.15h)

Poverty indicators

Benefit population (2009) as a % of total town population = 13.0%

Unemployment % (persons)

Year	Male	Female	Total
July 1998	2.3 (19)	1.3 (9)	1.9 (28)
July 1999	3.0 (24)	2.0 (14)	2.5 (38)
July 2000	1.1 (10)	0.4 (3)	0.8 (13)
July 2001	1.7 (15)	0.7 (6)	1.2 (21)
July 2002	1.1 (12)	1.5 (12)	1.3 (24)
July 2003	1.4 (18)	1.1 (10)	1.3 (28)
July 2004	2.1 (22)	1.1 (10)	1.6 (32)
July 2005	1.8 (19)	0.7 (6)	1.3 (32)
July 2006	2.1 (22)	1.0 (9)	1.6 (31)
July 2007	1.4 (14)	0.5 (5)	1.0 (19)
July 2008	0.9 (25)	0.5 (12)	0.7 (37)
July 2009	2.2 (61)	1.2 (32)	1.7 (93)

Of July 2009 unemployment figures, the long-term unemployed = 2.2%

2008 employment

Total number of people working in the town: 3,600

Number of Firms (excluding self employed) : 370

Work pattern / Gender category	percentage
Full-time	62%
Part-time	38%
Male	48%
Female	52%

Type of employment	%
Manufacturing	20
Other non service activities	*<5
Construction	5
Wholesale and retail trade;repair of motor vehicles/motorcycles	28
Accommodation and food service activities	*<5
Business services	15
Public administration, Ed and Health	26
Other services	4

* Approximation

Source: Annual Business Inquiry 2008

Major employers

Bakers of Gillingham, Chester Jefferies Ltd, Dextra Lighting Systems plc,
Dorset County Council, Focus Do it All, J H Rose & Sons, Lidl, SCATS,
Sherman Chemicals, Sigma Aldrich Co Ltd, Somerfield, Sydenhams,Waitrose.