ADMINISTRATION

As part of the Civil Parish of Aston from Tudor times, both manors had to supply men of substance for service as Overseers of the Poor and the Highways, as constables and jurors, and for any other unpaid duty placed upon the Parish by statute and magistrate. Formation of a Local Health Board for Saltley in 1872 provided the nucleus of an administration, which following the Act of 1888 became an Urban District shortly before Birmingham took over. Little Bromwich remained a hamlet without autonomy. Both continued to be part of the Aston Union, paying Poor Rates to the Aston Board of Guardians until 1911, when three local boards became one. The City Council did not acquire the powers of the combined Union until 1930.

In 1885 the Parliamentary Borough of Birmingham was enlarged to include Saltley and Little Bromwich, with other districts. The Council thereupon began its campaign for the municipal borough to be enlarged by the addition of these and nearly all the surrounding areas. After long negotiations, with local pride weighed against practical advantages, Saltley agreed to join the newly-entitled city. Conditions for entry were the maintenance of rates below Birmingham level for 11 years, road surfaces and lighting to be improved, Adderley Park to be drained, and the library there to be re-organised. Little Bromwich's 'bribe' was the promise of services provision and reduced rates for 20 years.

So in 1891, along with Balsall Heath and Harborne, the Urban District and the Hamlet came into the city as a new ward - to make up the numbers thereof a part of Bordesley being added. Moat Brook was culverted and diverted into a sewer and the Park was levelled the following year, and road works - widening, raising, draining - continued during the next decade. Saltley Viaduct was rebuilt over the Rea, the railway, and the canal: the Public Works Depot on the enlarged wharf was the unloading point for road-metal and the loading point for night-soil and domestic refuse. A destructor was built in Nechells, on Aston Church Road. The Police and Fire Stations in Bordesley Green were opened in 1907, and the then disused county police station in George Arthur Road was demolished to make way for public baths.

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