Hateley Heath is a residential area of West Bromwich, West Midlands.The population of the Sandwell ward taken at the 2011 census was 14,227. [1]
Although the first major housing developments around Hateley Heath took place in the Heath Lane area during 1930s when private builders built houses within the boundary of West Bromwich, the largest section of Hateley Heath was developed during the late 1940s and early 1950s within the boundaries of West Bromwich and neighbouring Wednesbury, when mass council house building took place. The new homes were initially very popular with their occupants, who appreciated modern facilities such as indoor toilets, bathrooms, running water, electricity and gardens. They had previously lived in 19th century slums which lacked these facilities.
An infant school was built to serve the estate in 1950, replacing facilities at nearby Hill Top, followed by the junior school two years later. The infant and junior schools merged to form a single primary school in September 1999. The senior school at Hill Top remained open and was the most popular destination for the secondary school population of the estate until its closure in the early 1990s, since when nearby Wodensborough has been the main secondary school for pupils living in Hateley Heath. [2]
In 1966, Wednesbury urban district was absorbed into an expanded West Bromwich borough and Hateley Heath was fully incorporated into the township of West Bromwich, within which it has remained ever since. The opposite transfer of township took place with neighbouring Friar Park, which was now within the township of Wednesbury rather than West Bromwich.
By the 1980s, Hateley Heath was plagued by high unemployment and crime, and the condition of the housing was deteriorating. A small section of the estate, consisting of low-rise flats, was demolished between 1988 and 1992, and new housing was built in its place by both the public sector and private sector. Several other houses on the estate have since been demolished and the remaining council properties have been refurbished.
In January 1992, an Express & Star report claimed that Hateley Heath had some of the worst crime rates in the region. [3] It was estimated that six out of ten children living in Hateley Heath were involved in crime. Joyriding, burglaries, theft and vandalism were just some of the many problems that were reported to be plaguing the area. Several shopkeepers had closed their stores due to extensive theft and vandalism. In 1991 alone, no less than 1,006 crimes were recorded on the estate - an average of once in just over eight hours. Car thefts and break-ins were the most common crime in the area, followed closely behind by burglaries and vandalism. During the year, 48 people who lived on the estate were arrested on suspicion of various criminal offences, though it is unknown how many of these arrests resulted in a conviction. What is known is that all but three of the people arrested were aged under 25. Unemployment and social deprivation were blamed for the decline of Hateley Heath, with an unemployment rate of 14.9% in 1991, when the national rate was below 10%. However, parts of the nearby towns of Smethwick and Tipton had an even higher unemployment rate at this time, when Britain was in recession.
Hateley Heath has since improved with the aid of local community projects. Private housing was built on the site of the demolished flats. Most of the remaining homes have been comprehensively refurbished, while a small section of the northern part of the estate was demolished in the early 2010s.
The estate has been served by an infant school since 1950 and a junior school since 1952. Both of these schools replaced facilities at nearby Hill Top School, which remained open as a secondary school until 1992 and is now the site of a housing development.
A second primary school, Kent Close Primary, was opened on the estate in 1960 to serve the growing 5-11 population. [4] It closed in July 2005 and was later demolished. [5]
West Bromwich, commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is 7 miles northwest of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, cultures and dialect. West Bromwich had a population of 103,112 in the 2021 Census.
Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeast of Wolverhampton. It is also contiguous with nearby towns of Darlaston, Dudley, Wednesbury and Bilston.
Wednesbury is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands, England - historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles (8km) south-east of Wolverhampton, 3 miles (4.4km) south-west of Walsall, and 7 miles (11.8km) north-west of Birmingham. At the 2021 Census, the town's built-up area had a population of 20.313.
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.
Blackheath is a town in the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, in the county of West Midlands, England.
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West Bromwich East was a constituency in the West Midlands in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented from 1974 until 2019 by members of the Labour Party, and by the Conservatives from 2019 until 2024.
West Bromwich West was a constituency in the West Midlands in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented from 1974 until 2019 by members of the Labour Party, and by the Conservatives from 2019 until 2024.
Cradley is a village in the Black Country and Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands, England, near Halesowen and the banks of the River Stour. Colley Gate is the name of the short road in the centre of Cradley. It was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen, but unlike much of the rest of that parish, which was an exclave of Shropshire, Cradley was always in Worcestershire, until the creation of the West Midlands county in 1974. This meant that for civil administrative purposes, Cradley formerly had the officers which a parish would have had. The population of the appropriate Dudley Ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,340.
Tipton Green is the central area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It was heavily developed for heavy industry and housing during the 19th century, as Tipton was one of the most significant towns during the Industrial Revolution. Tipton Green is one of three electoral wards covering Tipton for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. The population of this Sandwell ward taken at the 2011 census was 12,834. It is represented by three Labour councillors.
The Phoenix Collegiate is a foundation secondary school and sixth form located in the Hateley Heath area of West Bromwich, a town in the West Midlands of England. The school was formed in September 2010 from the merger of Menzies High School and Manor High School, both located in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell. Originally operating from both former school sites, the Phoenix Collegiate has been based entirely at the former Menzies High School site in Clarke's Lane, West Bromwich. This follows the closure of the former Manor High School buildings on the Friar Park estate in Wednesbury due to asbestos.
Tantany is a residential area of West Bromwich. It is situated to the north of the town centre and consists predominantly of council housing constructed during the 1920s.
Galton Village is a residential area of Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It takes its name from the iconic Galton Bridge that was named after local businessman Samuel Galton. The Birmingham Canal Navigations main line to Wolverhampton borders the north of Galton Village, as does the Stour Valley section of the West Coast Mainline. The Oldbury Road A457 runs through the area, which begins next to Smethwick’s Galton Bridge railway station and ends at Spon Lane, at a small shopping centre.
Friar Park is a residential area of Wednesbury, West Midlands, England. It is also a ward of Sandwell Council.
The 2000 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.
This article details a number of defunct schools that were once located in Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. For details of currently operating schools in Sandwell, please see: List of schools in Sandwell.