What is a Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan? Wednesbury Conservation Area was designated as a Conservation Area in 1980 because of its special architectural and historic interest due to its high quality built form and many positive buildings. Conservation Areas are areas of special architectural and historic interest and are therefore worthy of preserving or enhancing. The character of the area is assessed as a whole rather than the quality of individual...
This survey will assist the Council and our partners to better understand the views of those that use the town centre. Thank you for taking the time to participate, the survey should only take a few minutes to complete.
We distribute the Sandwell Herald three times a year to all homes in Sandwell and it’s also published online at www.sandwell.gov.uk/herald We want to find out more about Herald readers and what you think about the Herald. By filling in the survey, you will be entered into a draw to win a £50 One4all voucher. One winner will be picked at random.
Sandwell Council is carrying out further consultation with the public on how to make savings to the council’s budget over the coming years. An initial consultation took place earlier this year. Now, residents, businesses and voluntary organisations are invited to have their say on the areas where the council can save money. The council is facing similar pressures to residents from inflation and rising costs. The cost of living emergency is also creating...
Good mental health is essential for individuals, families and communities to thrive. Mental health is not just about preventing mental illness, but also improving the things that keep us well in our communities. Our social connections, the environment we live in and the opportunities we have all affect our health and wellbeing, including our mental health. Mental health is a natural part of everyday life, and individuals with mental health challenges can...
The draft Sandwell Local Plan is a document that plans for the future development of our borough. It sets out how and where we expect to build the new homes we need up to 2041, and what land is required to accommodate new jobs. This consultation gives you the chance to have your say on the sites that are proposed for development, and where development should or shouldn’t take place in Sandwell. Sandwell Council has identified enough land to build more than 11,000...
The Safer Sandwell Partnership brings together the council, police, fire service, health and probation services and many others to tackle crime and improve community safety in Sandwell. ...
Angling has been a popular pastime within Sandwell’s Green Spaces for many years. As a Council we want to make sure that angling activity is balanced against allowing our wildlife and ecology to...
This survey will assist the Council and our partners to better understand the views of those that use the town centre. Thank you for taking the time to participate, the survey should only take...
Below are outcomes for some of the issues we've recently asked about.
The Department for Education Statutory Guidance for School Organisation regulations: ‘Making significant changes (‘prescribed alterations’) to maintained schools’ and The School Organisation (Prescribed Alterations to Maintained Schools) (England) Regulations 2013 requires that when the Local Authority is proposing a significant alteration, i.e., a change to the age range, it must consult upon the proposal and make a formal decision to make the alteration permanent. The LA asked for your views on the statutory proposals to lower the age range of Moat Farm Infant School from 2 – 7 years to 0 – 7 years.
38 representations to the Statutory Proposal were received. 5 of those responses objected to the change of age range. 2 responders provided the following comments;
Objection: Teaching staff; “We do not have the facilities to cater to below 2 years of age. We cater for a small number of 2 year old children. As our Nursery is not big enough or facilitated to cater to very young children.”
Position: Moat Farm Infant School Nursery caters for 2-5 year old children in a small nursery block. The change to the age range of Moat Farm Infant School is to incorporate the children attending Lavender Farm Day Nursery which currently caters for children from six weeks to 5 years in a separate building. These children will continue to use the facilities at Lavender Farm Day Nursery. There are no re-organisational changes expected as a result of the change in age range proposal.
Objection: Resident; “If it’s not broken it doesn’t need fixing, the shack up & change will be disturbing, is it really necessary. You will then need to change the juniors!”
Position: As a maintained Local Authority school, the Governing Body have been able to run Lavender Farm Day Nursery using its community powers in addition to operating its own school nursery. When the school converts to academy status the Governing Body will no longer have those powers. Changing the school’s age range to include the children attending Lavender Farm Day Nursery will enable the Governing Body to continue to run this nursery and the school nursery. Children will continue to attend nursery in the same way as they currently do. The number of children being admitted into Reception at the school is not being increased, therefore there will not be a need to change the admission number for the Junior School.
On 13 September 2023 Cabinet approved the recommendation to publish the Statutory Proposal for the change of age range at Moat Farm Infant School from 2-7 years to 0-7 years old. Decision No.102/23(1) b., gave approval to the Director of Children’s Services and Education to make a final decision on the proposal for the prescribed alteration at the school, subject to no objections being raised during the statutory representation period for the Statutory Proposal. In the event that any objections were raised during the statutory representation period, Decision No.102/23(1) c., requires a report is submitted to the Cabinet Member, with full details of representations received to inform a final decision on the proposal.
A report was presented to the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education on 14 November 2023 and approval was given to make the prescribed alternations for the school. Decisions taken by the Cabinet Member can be found on the council's website; https://www.sandwell.gov.uk/council/modern-gov.
Residents and community groups were asked for their views on the Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary Strategy. The strategy has been developed by the council, residents and local organisations that form Sandwell’s Borough of Sanctuary Partnership. The strategy sets out the partnership’s commitments to welcoming and integrating individuals and families who arrive in Sandwell.
The public consultation provided an opportunity to strengthen the partnership’s understanding of ‘what welcome means’ to our residents and community groups and what respondents feel our priorities should be as a partnership.
Residents and community groups had the opportunity to input into the strategy and engage in the development of the partnership through an online consultation and in-person workshop and focus group events.
In total 67 responses were captured by the online public consultation, with a small handful of paper copies being completed that were later inputted into the online response.
Support across all questions was fairly high, with respondents either tending to agree or strongly agree with the priorities of the partnership. The average agreement was 63%, demonstrating a reasonable level of support for the Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary Strategy overall.
Responses have been carefully considered by the council and a consultation report has been produced. A copy of the report can be downloaded below.
The consultation highlighted a number of additional suggestions which have been considered and adopted in the final version of the Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary Strategy. A copy of the strategy can be downloaded here.
We are pleased to announce Sandwell has officially been awarded Council of Sanctuary status by the City of Sanctuary movement. The award celebrates Sandwell’s commitment to providing a welcoming place of safety for people who are asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. The award recognises the commitment that Sandwell Council, residents, and local community groups have made to delivering our joint strategy together as equal partners.
A sub-group of the Sandwell Borough of Sanctuary Partnership will deliver and monitor the strategy and its subsequent action plan. For more information and to find out how to be involved please visit https://www.sandwell.gov.uk/supporting-sandwell/borough-sanctuary