Dudley

The borough of Dudley, located in the western half of the West Midlands conurbation, covers 38 square miles, with a population of 305,000. The borough is the third largest in the West Midlands, and the 17th largest authority in England & Wales.

The main town centres are Dudley itself, a historic market town, together with Brierley Hill, Halesowen and Stourbridge. In January 2008, Brierley Hill was formally recognised by Government as a new ‘Strategic Centre’. This town centre will be an important future focus for major development and regeneration, and £1bn of investment will take place over the next few years, that will effectively integrate the town centre of Brierley Hill with Merry Hill. In addition, major regeneration is planned at Castle Hill, near Dudley town centre, providing new mixed use development that will revitalise the local economy.

The borough is mainly urban in character, although around 25% of the land area is open space and green belt. Whilst the east of the borough adjoins the City of Birmingham, on the western edge lies the rural fringe of South Staffordshire and rural Worcestershire. The borough also has a highly developed canal network, which increasingly serves as a focus for tourism and leisure. Other major tourist attractions include the Black Country Living Museum, a concert hall, and historic Dudley Castle, located within a zoological park.

Historically, the borough was a centre for traditional industries including steel-making, engineering and crystal glass making. However, over the last 30 years the economy has been transformed: whilst manufacturing continues to be important, the area now boasts a strong and diverse service sector, including financial services, distribution and retail – most notably the Merry Hill shopping complex near Brierley Hill.

Over 70% of Dudley’s housing stock is owner occupied, and the borough has the highest level of average annual earnings (by residence) in the Black Country. Whilst the borough as a whole is relatively prosperous, by sub-regional comparisons, new strategic initiatives – including City Strategy (to tackle ‘worklessness’), and a planned Innovation Campus for the South Black Country, to stimulate business enterprise and support for business start ups – are intended to tackle key short-comings in the borough’s performance.

In terms of educational attainment, Dudley has the strongest performance within the Black Country: the percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C GCSE grades rose to 56% in 2007.

Dudley borough has strong transport links with the region via the M5 motorway, and by rail to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.