Sandwell

Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell
Geography
Status:	Metropolitan borough
Region:	West Midlands
Ceremonial County:	West Midlands
Historic county:	Staffordshire, Worcestershire
Area: - Total	Ranked 233rd 85.58 km²
Admin. HQ:	Oldbury
ONS code:	00CS
Demographics
Population: - Total (2007 est.) - Density	Ranked 29th 287,500 3360 / km²
Ethnicity:	77.4% White 15.0% S.Asian 4.3% Black British, 2.5% Mixed Race[1]
Politics
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Labour
MPs:	Adrian Bailey, Sylvia Heal, John Spellar, Tom Watson

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of the towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury, Cradley Heath, Tividale and West Bromwich.

Sandwell borders 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.

History of the Borough

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the county boroughs of Warley (associated with Worcestershire) and West Bromwich (associated with Staffordshire). Warley itself was a recent creation, having been formed in 1966 by a merger of the Staffordshire 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). West Bromwich had also been expanded in 1966 to include the boroughs of Tipton and Wednesbury.

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, which has a campus in West Bromwich, Oldbury and Smethwick, was opened in September 1986 following the merger of Warley College and West Bromwich College.

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

Localities

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

Other places

• Sandwell Priory
• Sandwell Valley
• Sandwell Valley Country Park
• RSPB Sandwell Valley
• Sheepwash Urban Park
• West Bromwich Albion
• Sandwell General Hospital

References

External links

• Sandwell MBC
• Research Sandwell
• Sandwell Building Schools for the Future