Sandwell

Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell
—  Metropolitan borough  —
Sandwell Council House in Oldbury
Coat of Arms of the Borough Council
Sandwell shown within West Midlands
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Status	Metropolitan borough
Admin HQ	Oldbury
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
– Type	Metropolitan district council
– Body	Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
– Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Labour)
– MPs	Adrian Bailey James Morris John Spellar Tom Watson
Area
– Total	33 sq mi (85.58 km2)
Area rank	233rd (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
– Total	292,800
– Rank	29th (of 326)
– Density	8,861.3/sq mi (3,421.4/km2)
– Ethnicity	77.4% White 15.0% S.Asian 4.3% Black British 2.5% Mixed Race
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
– Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	00CS
OS grid reference	SP025895
Website	sandwell.gov.uk

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of 33 square miles (85 km²). The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Tividale, Wednesbury, and West Bromwich. West Bromwich is the most populous town in Sandwell, but Sandwell Council House (the headquarters of Sandwell's local government) is located at Oldbury.

The Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell was formed in 1974 as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 and is an amalgamation of the former County Borough of Warley and County Borough of West Bromwich. For its first 12 years Sandwell had a two-tier system of local government; Sandwell Council shared power with the West Midlands County Council. Since the Local Government Act 1985 Sandwell Council has effectively been a unitary authority, serving as the sole executive, deliberative and legislative body responsible for local policy, setting council tax, and allocating budget in the district.

Bordering Sandwell is the City of Birmingham to the east, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley to the south and west, the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the north, and the City of Wolverhampton to the north-west. Spanning the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell are the parliamentary constituencies of West Bromwich West, West Bromwich East and Warley, and part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis, which crosses into the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

Since 2009, there has been a petition to merge Sandwell with Birmingham. If successful, Birmingham will almost double in size with a combined population of 1,300,000^[1]

History

Street nameplate on Rutland Road in Smethwick in April 2007, showing painted out "County Borough" lettering.

The Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the county boroughs of Warley (ceremonially within Worcestershire) and West Bromwich (ceremonially within Staffordshire). Warley had formed in 1966 by a merger of the county borough of Smethwick with the Staffordshire borough of Rowley Regis and the Worcestershire town of Oldbury (itself part of an exclave of Shropshire until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844) as well as parts of Dudley and Tipton. West Bromwich had also been expanded in 1966 to include the bulk of the boroughs of Tipton and Wednesbury as well as a small part of Coseley.

In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Sandwell effectively became a unitary authority. Sandwell is divided into 24 Wards and is represented by 72 ward councillors.

West Bromwich is the largest town in Sandwell, however the council headquarters are based in Oldbury.

The borough was named after Sandwell Priory, the ruins of which are in Sandwell Valley. The local council has considered changing its name in the past, as many people outside of the West Midlands are confused as to where it is located, and in June 2002 a survey of borough residents was carried out. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed favoured retaining the name Sandwell.^[2]

Sandwell College was opened in September 1986 following the merger of Warley College and West Bromwich College. It was originally currently based in the old Warley College buildings on Pound Road, Oldbury, and the West Bromwich College buildings on West Bromwich High Street, as well as a building in Smethwick town centre, but moved into a new single site campus in West Bromwich town centre in September 2011.

Politics

See also: Sandwell local elections

Most of Sandwell's councillors are members of the Labour Party, with the Labour party having run the council since the first election in 1973, apart from one year between 1978 and 1979 when the Conservatives had a majority.^[3] As of the last election in 2011 the council is composed of the following councillors:^[4]

Party		Councillors
	Labour Party	58
	Conservative Party	9
	Liberal Democrats	3
	Independent	1
	Independent Socialist	1

From the borough's creation in 1974, all Members of Parliament (MPs) within its boundaries were Labour, but in the 2010 general election, Conservative party candidate James Morris was elected to the Halesowen and Rowley Regis seat which incorporates the Sandwell communities of Rowley Regis, Blackheath and Cradley Heath, and the neighbouring area of Halesowen which is situated within Dudley's borders. This is the very first time Sandwell has had a Tory MP - or indeed an MP from any party other than Labour.^[5]

Localities

See also List of areas in Sandwell

Localities in the borough include:

• Warley

• Cradley Heath

• Old Hill

• Oldbury

• Brandhall
• Langley Green
• Oakham
• Rood End
• Tividale

• Smethwick

• Albion Estate
• Bearwood
• Cape Hill
• Londonderry
• Uplands

• Rowley Regis

• Blackheath,

• West Bromwich

• Charlemont and Grove Vale
• Great Barr (although some areas are part of Birmingham and Walsall)
• Guns Village
• Hamstead
• Hill Top
• Yew Tree

• Wednesbury

• Friar Park

• Tipton

• Dudley Port
• Great Bridge
• Horseley Heath
• Ocker Hill
• Princes End
• Summer Hill

Local places of interest

• Sandwell Priory
• Sandwell Valley
• Sandwell Valley Country Park
• RSPB Sandwell Valley
• Sheepwash Urban Park
• West Bromwich Albion
• Sandwell General Hospital
• Sandwell College^[6]

• Holly Lodge High School

Also see

• Primary schools in Sandwell
• Other secondary school in Sandwell
• Colleges in Sandwell
• Wednesbury Central railway station
• Wednesbury bus station
• Wednesbury Town railway station

References

1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/articles/2009/04/06/sandwell_birmingham_feature.shtml
2. ^ Sandwell View Point, issue no.10
3. ^ "England council elections". BBC News Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/council/html/cs.stm. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Election results 2011". Sandwell Council. http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/elections2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011. 
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ http://www.sandwell.ac.uk/

External links

• Sandwell MBC
• Research Sandwell
• Sandwell Trends - a Local Intelligence System for Sandwell
• Sandwell Building Schools for the Future
• Sandwell Lions Club

Coordinates: 52°30′19″N 2°1′2″W / 52.50528°N 2.01722°W / 52.50528; -2.01722