East Birmingham Town Planning Scheme

The East Birmingham Town Planning Scheme was initiated by the Council on 26 July 1910, approved by the Council on 30 July 1912 and finally sealed by the Local Government Board on 18 August 1913, the successive stages running almost simultaneously with those of the Quinton, Harborne and Edgbaston scheme.

The scheme covered an area of 1,443 acres situated in Saltley, Washwood Heath, Little Bromwich and Small Heath. The act differed critically from that proposed for the south west side of Birmingham in that it did not prohibit the construction of industrial buildings as the district lay leeward of the main city, and adjacent to a main railway line. Three areas on the northern and southern boundaries and near the centre were marked as available for new factories, comprising 280 acres of land in total. Housing density was fixed at eighteen to the acre where building contracts had already been made, fifteen to the acre in the intermediate zone, and twelve in the outer zone.

The general plan, once again, was on the zone system, with the total number of streets provided being 21 at specified widths. Only one plot of land was provided for open space, as the district was already provided with a large recreation ground at Ward End Park. However, 51 acres were provided for allotment gardens. Development of East Birmingham was expected to proceed more rapidly as transport communication was already good, the distance from large factories was shorter and the growth of the city eastwards had already proceeded quickly. The 1913 scheme was thus to control what was to proceed from existing development, rather than to encourage development in a new direction.