Sandwell Council

A big splash, new names for gritters and tackling anti-social behaviour

Sandwell Council sent this bulletin at 15-03-2019 04:37 PM GMT

Exciting news! Sandwell Council’s planning committee has approved a new £60 million Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Smethwick.

The new leisure centre is set to host the swimming and diving at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and will be a fantastic facility for Sandwell people for decades to come.
Plans were approved this week at planning committee and will go to Full Council on 9 April to be ratified.
Find out more about Aquatics Centre plans

Our gritting trucks now have new names – chosen by you!

Ice One, Cyrille
Dame Julie Salters
The Greatest Snow Van
Spread Zeppelin
Frozie Lawrence
Frosty the Snow Van
Melt-on John
Rule Gritannia
Ctrl+Salt+Delete

Find out more about them

Good music, good books, good times

If you love good music and good literature, join us at Central Library this Saturday (16 March) for a special concert – with Sandwell Libraries.

West Brom-born singer Val Wiseman is performing a musical tribute to the Brontë’s to launch the library's literature festival.

Val studied Jane Eyre at school here and she says it changed her life!

Some tickets for the event are still available from Central Library West Bromwich, by calling 0121 569 4904 or emailing central_library@sandwell.gov.uk

Vigil for New Zealand terror victims

A peaceful vigil has taken place outside Sandwell Council House, Oldbury, today (Friday) following the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The vigil was led by Sandwell's Inclusive Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and Faithful Friends network and attended by councillors, council staff and people from across Sandwell’s communities.

Order helps to tackle bad behaviour

A new legal order is helping the council and police make West Bromwich town centre safer, with reports of disorder cut by more than half.

Authorised council officers, police and police community support officers can enforce PSPOs. Anyone breaching a PSPO faces a fixed penalty notice of up to £100 or a fine of up to £1,000 on prosecution.

Police figures for the three-month period October to December 2018 show a 43.8 per cent fall in reported anti-social behaviour compared to the same period in 2017 (68 incidents down from 121). Reported disorder incidents fell 52.7 per cent (26 incidents down from 55).

Council tax bills – find out what you will pay

Sandwell residents can now check how much their council tax bills will be from Monday 1 April.

Councillors approved the council’s budget for the new financial year at a full council meeting on Tuesday 5 March.

The council has tried hard to keep the increase in council tax to a minimum in a budget that protects the frontline services that matter most to our residents.

People can now see how much in total they will be paying each month – with the additional charges from the police and fire service – on our council tax bandings webpage.