Longbridge
Longbridge is an area of south-west Birmingham, England. For local government purposes it is a ward within the district of Northfield.
Longbridge | |
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Longbridge Technology Park – Innovation Centre (March 2010) | |
Longbridge Location within the West Midlands | |
Population | 25,410 (2011 Ward)[1] |
• Density | 36.2 per ha |
OS grid reference | SP015775 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
Postcode district | B31, B45 |
Dialling code | 0121 |
Police | West Midlands |
Fire | West Midlands |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Public Transport
Longbridge has good public transport links, with buses going south, north, east and west.[2]
Situation
Longbridge is surrounded by Frankley, Frankley Beeches, Rubery, Rednal, Bromsgrove, Northfield, West Heath and Kings Norton. Longbridge is in close proximity to and can be viewed from the Lickey Hills.
Longbridge plant
Since 1906, the area has been dominated by the Longbridge plant, which produced Austin, Nash Metropolitan, Morris, British Leyland, and most recently MG Rover cars. The factory became dormant, and some parts of the older sections of the site were demolished after MG Rover fell into administration in April 2005. The plant was one of the main employers of the local population and the resultant layoffs caused local decline. The company, renamed MG Motor (owned by MG Rover's would-be partner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) resumed full MG TF sports car production within a small portion of the factory in August 2008 and in late 2010 started final assembly of the MG6. The remaining disused sections of the factory were demolished on 4 August 2006.
Regeneration
The demolition of the Longbridge plant left behind a large amount of disused brownfield land. The site was bought by regeneration firm St. Modwen Properties. A shopping complex was constructed along with many new homes and a retirement complex. Concerns that the area's history would be completely erased were met with the addition of plaques set into the concrete walkway running parallel to the River Rea that give a brief history of the Longbridge Plant and its operators; principally, the Austin Motor Company.
Politics
Gary Sambrook of the Conservative Party is the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield, representing the seat since December 2019.
As part of the Ward of Longbridge And West Heath, Longbridge is represented on Birmingham City Council by Debbie Clancy (Conservative Party (UK)) and Brett O'Reilly (Labour Party (UK)) who was very narrowly elected at the 2018 Birmingham City Council election.
Population
The 2001 Population Census recorded that there were 30,964 people living in Longbridge with a population density of 3,789 people per km² compared with 3,649 people per km² for Birmingham. Longbridge has a small ethnic minority population: only 6.8% (2,117) of the ward's population consists of ethnic minorities, unlike more centralised areas such as Aston, Handsworth and Small Heath.
References
- "Birmingham Ward population 2011". Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- "COMPASS‐II: COMPASS Future Programs". AIP Conference Proceedings. American Institute of Physics. 2011: 64–71. doi:10.1063/1.3667305. Cite journal requires
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External links
- Austin Memories
- Photos from inside the Longbridge Plant
- Birmingham City Council: Longbridge Ward
- Birmingham City Council: nature reserve Ranger Service in Longbridge
- Longbridge Birmingham
- Longbridge Life
- Longbridge Technology Park
- Longbridge MG Rover plant pictures
- New Marks & Spencers To Be Opened in Longbridge
- EH Smith Longbridge