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Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, England. It is one of the four wards forming the
Hall Green Hall Green is an area in southeast Birmingham, England, synonymous with the B28 postcode. It is also a council constituency of Birmingham City Council, managed by its own district committee. Historic counties of England, Historically it lay wit ...
formal district within Birmingham City Council.


Etymology

The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that flowed south of the city centre. It was later channelled and partially used for a canal.


Politics

Sparkbrook ward is represented by two Labour councillors on
Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropo ...
, Mohammed Azim and Shabrana Hussain. Its former independent councillor, Talib Hussain, was elected as a Liberal Democrat but resigned from the party after being sacked from the council's cabinet.


Project Champion

Project Champion is a project to install a £3m network of 169 Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to monitor vehicles entering and leaving Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath. Its implementation was frozen in June 2010 amid allegations that the police deliberately misled councillors about its purpose, after it was revealed that it was being funded as an
anti-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...
initiative, rather than for 'reassurance and crime prevention'. The campaign was spearheaded by a local activist called Steve Jolly, who 'wrote an article for a local magazine, started a petition and lobbied MPs and councillors to denounce the spy-cam scheme', he was proactive in contacting the media, it was Steve Jolly who made Paul Lewis of The Guardian aware of this issue. When Paul Lewis wrote his article, it sparked national and international debate on Project Champion, this then led to massive public resistance to Project Champion, which eventually led to it being stopped. West Midlands Police were forced into making an apology. Chief Constable Simms said: "I am sorry that we got such an important issue so wrong and deeply sorry that it has had such a negative impact on our communities."


Geography


Places of interest

Many of the churches within Sparkbrook were constructed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. One of the most prominent churches in the area is St Agatha's Church on the Stratford Road, consecrated in 1901. It is a
Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. Christ Church, on the corner of Grantham Road and Dolobran Road, was one of the oldest churches in the area, being consecrated in 1867. The spire belonging to the tower was removed in 1918, and following a bomb blast in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the tower was demolished. In 1927, The Diocesan Home for Girls received a licence permitting public worship within the building. Following damage caused by the Birmingham Tornado 28 July 2005 the church was demolished. However the Christ Church has been rebuilt in 2013 after being destroyed by the tornado in 2005. The Health centre that is on the site of the Christ church has been rebuilt in 2012. Consecrated in the same year as St Agatha's Church, Emmanuel Church, was a chapel of ease to Christ Church until it received its own parish in 1928. Located within the church is an ancient blank bell from Ullenhall. Ladypool Road mission hall was opened in 1894 by the Sparkbrook Gospel Mission (founded 1886). In 1849, a group called the Methodist New Connexion, opened a chapel in the area, their first for 11 years along with a similar chapel on Bridge Street in the city centre. Lloyd House is a Georgian building situated on Sampson Road. It was built between 1742 and 1752 by Sampson Lloyd, the founder of
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...
. The building is used as offices by the Bromford Corinthia Housing Association. In 1780, Sparkbrook was the home of
Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
, one of the founding fathers of modern chemistry. In 1791, his mansion was partially destroyed in what became known as the Priestley riots. It stood on what is now Priestley Road. Sparkbrook is also home of the legendary Farm Park just off of the Stratford Road near Grantham Road.


Unemployment

The
late 2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
resulted in Sparkbrook and Small Heath ward having the eighth highest level of unemployment in Britain in 2009, with 12.9% (more than one in eight) of its residents being registered unemployed. Only Ladywood had a higher rate of unemployment in the West Midlands.


Demographics

The 2001 Census recorded that 31,485 people were living in the ward. Sparkbrook has the second highest non-white population in Birmingham, with a total of 78%2001 Census
/ref> minority ethnic residents living in the mainly terraced area; notably it is home to a large
Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
population as well as a large Somali population. Sparkbrook is also the location of Birmingham's " Balti Triangle", and many of the residents have their own balti businesses.


See also

*
Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. A member of the Labour Party, he was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and ...
, Baron Hattersley of Sparkbrook in the County of West Midlands. * Farm, Bordesley * Ladypool Primary School * Sparkbrook and Small Heath *
UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...


References


External links


Birmingham City Council: Sparkbrook WardSparkbrook Community NetworkSparkbrook Tornado July 2005
{{Authority control Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Somalian diaspora in the United Kingdom Former wards of Birmingham, West Midlands