South Staffordshire

South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains the towns of Penkridge, Brewood and Codsall. Which are of major size, and many of the settlements within the district are considered dormitory villages for Stafford, Telford, and the West Midlands conurbation.

This article is about the district. For the constituency, see South Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency). For the water company, see South Staffordshire Water.

South Staffordshire District
Non-metropolitan district
South Staffordshire shown within Staffordshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Non-metropolitan county	Staffordshire
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Codsall
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	South Staffordshire District Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
• MPs	Gavin Williamson Jeremy Lefroy
Area
• Total	157.3 sq mi (407.3 km^2)
Area rank	99th (of 317)
Population  (mid-2019 est.)
• Total	112,436
• Rank	212th (of 317)
• Density	710/sq mi (280/km^2)
• Ethnicity	98.0% White
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	41UF (ONS) E07000196 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SJ8701803171
Website	www.sstaffs.gov.uk

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Cannock Rural District (in the north) and Seisdon Rural District (in the south).

Its council is based in Codsall,[1] one of the larger settlements in the district, along with Brewood, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Kinver, Landywood, Penkridge, Perton and Wombourne. Other villages in the district include Swindon, Coven, Essington, Featherstone, Gospel End, Huntington, Lower Penn, Pattingham, Seisdon and Trysull.

The district covers a similar geographic area to South Staffordshire parliamentary constituency, although the north of the district is covered by the Stafford constituency. Sir Patrick Cormack of the Conservative Party held the South Staffordshire seat, and its predecessor, Staffordshire South-West, between 1974–2010, when he retired and the seat was won by Gavin Williamson for the Conservative Party.

Countryside

There are many beauty spots within the South Staffordshire district, for example the village of Wombourne has the Wom Brook Walk and the Bratch Locks on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in the nearby village of Bratch. Other sites include:

• South Staffordshire Railway Walk: A 5.5 miles (8.9 km) walk along the disused railway line of the Wombourne Branch Line.[2]
• Baggeridge Country Park: A large and diverse country park located between Wombourne and Sedgley (in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough), which has won the national Green Flag Award for 11 years.[3]
• Bluebell Woods, Perton: An internationally important site for Bluebells.[4]
• Highgate Common: A large area of heathland near Swindon.
• Kinver Edge: A National Trust property, located in the south of the district which features the Holy Austin Rock Houses.[5]
• Shoal Hill Common: A 180-acre (0.73 km²) site of lowland heaths and woodlands which can be found to the extreme north of the district.

Bunkers Tree Wood is also in the area and contains a large Corvid roost.

Local Government

As of June 2019, the political make-up of the local council was as follows:[6]

Party		Number of Councillors
	Conservative	37
	Independent	7
	Green	3
	Labour	1
	UKIP	1

References

1. "South Staffordshire Council: Directions" (PDF). Retrieved 16 October 2016.
2. "South Staffordshire Railway". Leisure Services. South Staffordshire Council. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
3. "Baggeridge County Park". South Staffordshire Council. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
4. "Bluebell Walk at Smith's Rough". South Stafforshire Council. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
5. "Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses". National Trust. Retrieved 16 October 2016.