Hateley Heath

Hateley Heath is a residential area of West Bromwich in the West Midlands of England.

History

It was developed during the late 1940s and early 1950s to rehouse people from slum clearances across the Wednesbury urban district, with hundreds of new homes being built by the local council. The new homes initially very popular with their occupants, who appreciated modern facilities such as indoor toilets, bathrooms, running water, electricity and gardens.

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.^[1]

In 1966, Wednesbury urban district was absorbed into an expanded West Bromwich borough and was also 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.

In January 1992, an Express & Star report on the estate revealed some shocking findings.^[2] It was estimated that six out of ten children living in Hateley Heath were involved in crime. Joyriding, burglaries and vandalism were just some of the many problems that were supposedly plaguing the area. Several shopkeepers had closed their stores due to theft and vandalism. In 1991 alone, West Midlands Police in Sandwell received no less than 1,006 complaints about crime 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 on the estate were arrested on suspicion of 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 almost 15% of employable residents being out of work. However, the nearby towns of Smethwick and Tipton had an even higher unemployment rate at this time, when the national economy was in recession.

Over the last 20 years, Hateley Heath has improved with the aid of local community projects. One of the first phases of the area's regeneration came in 1992 when several blocks of unpopular council flats on the estate were demolished. Desirable private houses were built in their place.

Facilities

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.^[3] It closed in July 2005 and was later demolished.^[4]

References

Coordinates: 52°32′17″N 1°59′46″W / 52.538°N 1.996°W / 52.538; -1.996