A KINGSHURST resident has dismissed suggestions that the area is suffering from widespread deprivation.
Eileen Hatfield hit out after a report to Solihull’s Health and Wellbeing Board suggested the north of the borough was already exposed to above average levels of deprivation.
But Mrs Hatfield, who has lived in Kingshurst for 54 years, while acknowledging that parts of the ward had seen better days, said it was wrong to condemn the whole area as deprived.
“We are far from deprived – we may not be wealthy, but we are not deprived,” she said.
“I’m Kingshurst and proud of it, round where we are we all own our own houses, we have Babbs Mill nearby and the Warwickshire countryside on our doorstep.”
She added the district centre in Kingshurst, which is now set for demolition and regeneration, should have been bulldozed years ago.
“I haven’t been there in years, and who would?
“Coleshill is not far away and I go into Solihull town centre too.
“My daughter lives in Monkspath and it’s not all perfect there so it’s unfair to tarnish the whole area.”
The report for the council, was commissioned in the light of the impact of coronavirus on the borough.
Analyst James Roberts from Solihull Observatory wrote: “Levels of deprivation in Solihull are low, although there is a widening gap in many outcomes between the most and least affluent neighbourhoods in the borough.
“Solihull is a resilient economy, relatively well placed to weather the current storm. However, Solihull is not immune to national trends in inequalities and the unequal impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable population groups.
“Combining health, economic and social harms shows that the risk of harm is greatest in the most deprived neighbourhoods of North Solihull.”
