Shadsworth with Whitebirk Big Local Partnership Community Plan 1st December 2018 to 30th November 2020
Shadsworth with WhitebirkWard
The Shadsworth and Whitebirk Ward is situated on the eastern edge of Blackburn. It is a large residential area with some industrial development which encompasses Shadsworth, Whitebirk, Hillside, Romney Walk, Westbury Gardens, Delph Lane and Intack residential areas as well as the Shadsworth Business Park. The Ward covers 214 hectares and includes 4 primary schools, i.e. Shadsworth Infant and Junior schools, St Antony’s Roman Catholic Primary School and Intack Community Primary. There is 1 secondary school in the ward which is Our Lady and St John Roman Catholic High School and there are 2 churches in the Ward, Westbury Gardens United Reformed Church, and a Presbyterian Church (Fecitt Brow). There is also 1 community centre (Accrington Road), 2 community bases (Arran Avenue, 2000 Centre) a Children’s Centre (Shadsworth) and a Church Hall (St Oswald’s) within the Ward boundaries.
The Big Local Area, Shadsworth with Whitebirk
The previous Census in 2001 found that the population of Shadsworth with Whitebirk was approximately 7,644, the latest results from the 2011 Census was 8,511. 41% of the housing in the Ward is rented compared with 19% in the Borough as a whole. The Ward suffers from high levels of unemployment with 12% of males unemployed with some unemployed for long periods of time. 37% of the working age people are claiming unemployment benefit compared to 20% in the town as a whole. The Ward also suffers from high levels of crime and has the 2nd highest rate of ASBO’s in the town and a significant level of domestic violence.
The 2011 Census shows that the Ward has an estimated 6,976 white residents (82% of its population), the 2011 estimate of the Indian population is 468 (5.5%) and the Pakistani population is 645 (7.6%). More recently some people from Eastern European countries have been moving into the area
Health
Long-term activity-limiting illness in households: Shadsworth with Whitebirk has 1,151 households in which somebody lives with a long-term activity-limiting illness, which amounts to 34.5% of all households. Of these households, 321 also have dependent children. This latter category accounts for 9.6% of all households in the ward. (Source: Table KS106EW). Long-term activity-limiting illness, General Health Long-term activity-limiting illness and poor General Health can often affect the same person. Figure 14 shows the entire population of Shadsworth with Whitebirk ward broken down in both ways. It can be seen that most people whose activity is limited are in less than good general health, and vice versa.