Independent Town Councillor for Chippenham

Hardens & Central Ward

I am an independent Chippenham Town Councillor working to support residents in Hardens and Central Ward, make the town centre a great place to be, and protect the environment.

I was elected as an Independent town councillor on May 6th 2021.

In May 2023 I was elected by fellow councillors as Deputy Leader of the council. 

Matthew Short

Matthew Short
Independent Town Councillor - Chippenham - Hardens & Central ward

Latest News

Artisan Quarter
Union Road and Artisan Quarter

For the last nine months i’ve been working with independent businesses in the newly formed [...]

09
Aug
Rowden development at Patterdown
Showell Development Site objection

One of the reasons I became a councillor in Chippenham was to try and prevent [...]

14
Jul
Island Park Trees Chippenham
Island Park Motion

I was pleased to receive unanimous support for my motion to try and protect the [...]

28
Jun
Setting up Monkton Park campsite
Folk Festival Motions

In both 2022 and 2023 I’ve put forward joint motions to help support Chippenham Folk [...]

28
May
Warm room motion
Warm Rooms Motion

I was pleased to jointly present a motion with fellow Independent Councillors to make Chippenham [...]

28
Apr
Bus
Bus Back Better Update – New Survey for extra Money

An update from Wiltshire on the Bus Back Better scheme… The short version is following [...]

28
Jul
Westbury Incinerator Campaign
Letter to Robert Jenrick opposing Westbury Incinerator

I’ve signed a joint letter with fellow Chippenham Town Councillors* voicing our opposition to the [...]

24
Jul
Wiltshire Cabinet answers my Future Chippenham Questions

Today I received written responses to my questions to Wiltshire Council on the Future Chippenham [...]

20
Jul

So what could we do differently?

I certainly don’t have all the answers but as one of my favourite quotes goes…

If you want to build a flotilla of ships you don’t sit around and talk about the carpentry. You set the saws ablaze with visions of exploring distant shores – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

So here are some ideas to set the Chippenham Town & Wiltshire Unitary council saws ablaze…