Sandwell
Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council defines the borough as the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. Rowley Regis includes the towns of Blackheath and Cradley Heath.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sandwell's Strategic Town Centre is designated as West Bromwich, the largest town in the borough, while Sandwell Council House (the headquarters of the local authority) is situated in Oldbury. In 2019 Sandwell was ranked 12th most deprived of England's 317 boroughs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 borough are the parliamentary constituencies of West Bromwich, Smethwick, the majority of Tipton and Wednesbury and also part of Halesowen, which both cross into the Dudley borough.
The borough covers an area of Template:Convert. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 309,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History and culture
The Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell was formed on 1 April 1974 as an amalgamation of the county boroughs of Warley (ceremonially within Worcestershire) and West Bromwich (ceremonially within Staffordshire), under the Local Government Act 1972. Warley had been formed in 1966 by a merger of the county borough of Smethwick with the municipal boroughs of Rowley Regis and Oldbury;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> at the same time, West Bromwich had absorbed the boroughs of Tipton and Wednesbury.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
For its first 12 years of existence, Sandwell had a two-tier system of local government; Sandwell Council shared power with the West Midlands County Council. In 1986 the county council was abolished, and Sandwell effectively became a unitary authority. The borough is divided into 24 wards and is represented by 72 ward councillors on the borough council.
The borough was named after Sandwell Priory, the ruins of which are located in Sandwell Valley. Gaining widespread acceptance for the identity of Sandwell and unifying the distinct communities within the borough has been a protracted affair.<ref name="Chitham">Template:Cite book</ref> The local council has considered changing its name over confusion outside the West Midlands as to the whereabouts of the borough. A survey of borough residents in June 2002 found that 65 per cent of respondents favoured retaining the name.<ref>Sandwell View Point, issue no.10</ref>
Landmarks and attractions in Sandwell include Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery, Bishop Asbury Cottage, West Bromwich Manor House, Oak House, West Bromwich, and Sandwell Valley Country Park. It is also the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C.
Sandwell used to be a popular hotspot for car cruising. In 2015 a High Court order was introduced to ban car cruising in the area. An extension has been secured to run until at least 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Politics
Since the council election in 2021, the political composition of the council has been as follows:<ref name="Councillors">Template:Cite web</ref>
| Party | Councillors | |
| Template:Party color cell | Labour Party | 60 |
| Template:Party color cell | Conservative Party | 10 |
| Template:Party color cell | Independents | 2 |
From the borough's creation in 1974 until 2010, all Members of Parliament (MPs) within its boundaries were Labour. However, 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 was the first time any part of Sandwell had elected a Conservative MP – or indeed an MP from any party other than Labour.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the December 2019 general election, however, Conservative candidates Nicola Richards and Shaun Bailey were elected to represent West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West respectively. This was the first time since the borough's creation that West Bromwich had returned any Conservative MPs to Parliament, and the first time that a constituency fully within the boundaries of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council had been represented by a Conservative MP.Template:Citation needed
Wards
The Sandwell Borough is divided into 24 electoral wards, with each one represented by 3 councillors on the borough council:<ref name="Councillors"/>
Education
Template:See also Sandwell is home to nearly 100 primary schools, 25 secondary schools, 4 special schools and 1 college.
Sandwell College, the only further education college in the borough, was opened in September 1986 following the merger of Warley College and West Bromwich College.<ref name=SWCollegeGuide>Template:Cite news</ref> It was originally 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 2012.<ref name=SWCollegeGuide/> In 2004, a debt-ridden Sandwell College was subject to a police investigation.<ref>Fraud row college to axe 100 jobs</ref>
Demography
Ethnicity
| Ethnic Group | 1981 estimations<ref name=":032">Template:Cite book</ref> | 1991 census<ref name=":0322">Template:Cite book</ref> | 2021 census<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | 274,239 | 88.5% | 250,941 | 85.1% | 195,624 | 57.3% |
| White: British | – | – | – | – | 177,929 | 52.1% |
| White: Irish | – | – | – | – | 1,591 | 0.5% |
| White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller | – | – | – | – | 324 | 0.1% |
| White: Roma | – | – | – | – | 375 | 0.1% |
| White: Other | – | – | – | – | 15,405 | 4.5% |
| Asian or Asian British: Total | 25,637 | 32,352 | 88,024 | 25.8% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Indian | 19,286 | 23,539 | 44,378 | 13.0% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Pakistani | 4,071 | 5,662 | 22,148 | 6.5% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi | 1,552 | 2,289 | 11,074 | 3.2% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Chinese | 315 | 340 | 1,204 | 0.4% | ||
| Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | 413 | 522 | 9,220 | 2.7% | ||
| Black or Black British: Total | 8,441 | 9,884 | 29,779 | 8.7% | ||
| Black or Black British: African | 213 | 213 | 12,668 | 3.7% | ||
| Black or Black British: Caribbean | 6,892 | 8,048 | 13,103 | 3.8% | ||
| Black or Black British: Other Black | 1336 | 1623 | 4,008 | 1.2% | ||
| Mixed or British Mixed: Total | – | – | – | – | 14,680 | 4.3% |
| Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | – | – | – | – | 8,030 | 2.3% |
| Mixed: White and Black African | – | – | – | – | 928 | 0.3% |
| Mixed: White and Asian | – | – | – | – | 3,274 | 1.0% |
| Mixed: Other Mixed | – | – | – | – | 2,448 | 0.7% |
| Other: Total | 1,346 | 1,623 | 13,725 | 4% | ||
| Other: Arab | – | – | – | – | 2,016 | 0.6% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | 1346 | 1623 | 11,709 | 3.4% | ||
| Non-White: Total | 35,424 | 43,859 | 146,208 | 42.7% | ||
| Total | 309,663 | 100% | 294,800 | 100% | 341,832 | 100% |
Media
Television
The area is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Radio
Radio stations for the area are:
- Heart West Midlands
- Smooth West Midlands
- Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands
- Capital Midlands
- Hits Radio Birmingham
- Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire
- Black Country Radio<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Newspapers
Local newspapers for the area are:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Express & Star
- Oldbury Weekly News
- Smethwick Telephone
- Tipton Herald
- Wednesbury Herald
- West Bromwich Chronicle
Notable people
Localities
The six towns that comprise Sandwell and localities within each include:
- West Bromwich
- Charlemont and Grove Vale
- Great Barr (although some areas are part of Birmingham and Walsall)
- Guns Village
- Hamstead
- Hill Top
- Newton
- Stone Cross
- Yew Tree
- Greets Green
- Hateley Heath
- Wednesbury
- Friar Park
- Woods Estate
- Mesty Croft
- Wood Green
- Old Park
- Church Hill
- Brunswick
- Myvod
Local places of interest
- The Public, West Bromwich
- Sandwell Aquatics Centre
- Sandwell Priory
- Sandwell Valley
- Sandwell Valley Country Park
- RSPB Sandwell Valley
- Sheepwash Urban Park
- The Hawthorns
- Sandwell General Hospital
- Sandwell College<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Holly Lodge High School
- Warley Woods
Twin towns and cities
Sandwell is twinned with:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
- Wednesbury Central railway station
- Wednesbury bus station
- Wednesbury Town railway station
- Healthcare in West Midlands
References
External links
- Sandwell MBC
- Research Sandwell Template:Webarchive
- Sandwell Trends – a Local Intelligence System for Sandwell
- Sandwell Building Schools for the Future
- Template:Usurped
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