Kingstanding

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Kingstanding is an area in north Birmingham, England.

It gives its name to a ward in the Erdington formal district. Kingstanding ward includes the areas; Perry Common, St. Mary's College, Witton Lakes and parts of Kingstanding Circle, Wirley Birch and New Oscott. The other part of Kingstanding falls under the Oscott ward.

Kingstanding houses a covered drinking water reservoir, Perry Barr Reservoir, on the site of the former Perry Barr Farm.

Kingstanding is served by two libraries; Kingstanding Library and Perry Common Library.

1 History
2 Politics
3 Population
4 References

[edit] History

The name of the area is supposedly derived from the occasion when the Stuart King Charles I reviewed his troops in the area on October 18, 1642 during the English Civil War, after his stay at nearby Aston Hall.

The area was largely rural until the 1930s and 40s, when most of the current housing was built. Most of the houses in Kingstanding were built as council houses with the majority being located in the north of the area.

Kingstanding is featured in the novel The Last Viking by Dr Ron Dawson. The author grew at number 79 Parkeston Crescent, and used the estate and it's many characters as the backcloth to his Birmingham based novel.[1]

[edit] Politics

The Kingstanding ward was the scene of political controversy in May 2006 when it initially appeared its voters had elected a British National Party candidate, Sharon Ebanks, to Birmingham City Council - the first BNP candidate ever to be elected in Birmingham. However, it was announced by the Returning Officer shortly after the declaration that a counting error had taken place and, following a High Court recount, Ebanks was removed as Councillor on July 26, 2006 and replaced by Labour candidate Catherine Grundy^[1]. The other councillors are Zoe Hopkins and Peter Kane, both of the Labour party.

Kingstanding has adopted a Ward Support Officer with the current holder of the title being John Mole.

[edit] Population

Kingstanding had a population 25,702 at the time of the 2001 Population Census. It has a population density of 5,410 people per km² compared with 3,649 people per km² for Birmingham. It has a small ethnic minority population with ethnic minorities representing 10.6% (2,724) of the ward's population as opposed to 29.6% for Birmingham.