Shirley, West Midlands

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Shirley
Shirley shown within the West Midlands
OS grid reference	SP120790
Metropolitan borough	Solihull
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
European Parliament	West Midlands
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Coordinates: 52°24′32″N 1°49′23″W / 52.409, -1.823

Shirley is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the county of West Midlands, England.

It is a residential and shopping neighbourhood.

There are many shops and businesses in the area, many along the Stratford Road. Shirley has a high proportion of independent retailers and charity stores. A pedestrianisation of the high street encouraged the eateries to have outside dining.

Currently, the 'New Heart for Shirley' plan to develop 1.43 acres (4%) of Shirley Park,^[1] to build a new shopping complex, with twenty new shops including an Asda supermarket as its flagship store, residential apartments, cafés, restaurants and new public areas. This plan came under much local criticism, but has now been given the go ahead by the local authority.

To the south of the high street (Stratford Road, A34) is a large retail park including many car dealerships such as BMW, Audi, Land Rover, and Jaguar.

In the area are many schools. The main secondary school is Light Hall School. A section of the school burnt down in 2005 and is currently being re-built. The primary schools include Our Lady of the Wayside, Mill Lodge, Peterbrook, Haslucks Green, St. James and Shirley Heath.

There are train services to Birmingham Moor Street station, Birmingham Snow Hill station and on to Stourbridge Junction in one direction and to Henley in Arden and Stratford-upon-Avon in the other direction from Shirley railway station^[2] which is located in Haslucks Green Road.^[3] Shirley is also served by a bus service with buses along the Stratford Road travelling to and from Solihull and Birmingham City Centre.