| Shirley | |
  Shirley shown within the West Midlands |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | Solihull |
| Metropolitan county | West Midlands |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| List of places: UK • England • West Midlands | |
Shirley is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is a residential and shopping neighbourhood. There are many shops and businesses in the area, many along the Stratford Road. Shirley has a high proportion of independent retailers and charity stores. A pedestrianisation of the high street encouraged the eateries to have outside dining. Currently, the 'New Heart for Shirley' plan to develop 1.43 acres (4%) of Shirley Park[1], to build a new shopping complex, with twenty new shops including an Asda supermarket as its flagship store, residential apartments, cafes, restaurants and new public areas. This plan came under much local criticism, but has now been given the go ahead by the local authority. To the south of the high street (Stratford Road, A34) is a large retail park including many car dealerships such as BMW, Audi, Land Rover, and Jaguar. In the area are many schools. The main secondary school is Light Hall School. However many children attend schools such as Alderbrook or Tudor Grange in Solihull due to the fact that in recent years Light Hall has suffered a somewhat bad reputation for discipline and standard of education compared to the others. Approximately one-third of the school was destroyed in 2006 by a fire. It is currently being rebuilt. The primary schools include Our Lady of the Wayside, Mill Lodge, Haslucks Green, St. James and Shirley Heath. There are train services to Birmingham Moor Street station, Birmingham Snow Hill station and on to Stourbridge Junction in one direction and to Henley in Arden and Stratford Upon Avon in the other direction from Shirley railway station[2] which is located in Haslucks Green Road.[3] Shirley is also served by a good bus service with buses along the Stratford Road travelling to and from Solihull and Birmingham City Centre
