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Europa Village is the name given to a housing estate in West Bromwich . The estate is adjacent to the M5 Motorway (very near M5 J1). Much of the estate was built in the early 1970s and the principles behind the estate were low density housing (by today's standards) and solely detached houses. Part of the area used to be allotments, and prior to that it was a coal-mining site. The roads (primarily Europa Avenue) were built over where the Coal Mine shafts used to be located. Most of the roads are named after historic Saint s and the theme for the names comes from the remains of a Priory found on the Sandwell Valley nature trail (Thus the name Priory Close). The low-density and solely detached principles of the estate were not carried over to the extension of the housing estate in the late 70s. The newer houses were smaller internally (with some notable exceptions, such as the houses on St. Augustus Close), and some were also semi-detached. The developer of the estate is now defunct. Also St James close is the 1st street around the valley, which is an cul-de-sac. The Demographics and cultural background of the inhabitants of the estate have changed substantially since its construction. Originally it was composed of fairly mixed race young families (but mainly White ), but since it has become primarily populated by North Indian immigrants and descendants (mainly Sikhs ). Despite this, there are still a considerable number of inhabitants who brought their houses new some 30-35 years ago as of 2006. The houses in the estate are clearly not large enough for the inhabitants, as a substantial amount of houses have been extended. The quality of the extensions varies from ridiculous in design to the ridiculous in size. Although some of the extensions are to house wider families (as is common in Indian culture), some extensions are definitely status symbols. The use of extensions is quite surprising given that the 1970s wood frame design of the houses does not lend itself well to extending. From the time the estate was built it was not known as Europa Village, but as Sandwell Valley Estate (usually shortened to Sandwell Valley) due to its direct proximity with the Sandwell Valley Country Park and nature trail as well as the fact that it is in the valley itself in its entirety. Many occupants of the estate use "Sandwell Valley" on their address. The original developer did have a sign to that effect on the road into the area. The use of the term 'Sandwell Valley' to describe the estate led to some confusion, and you would occasionally find people driving into the estate trying to get to the car park in the country park (which is not accessible as there is a locked gate that prevents access along the connecting road). The estate has only one road that links it to the outside world. This is quite a unique feature. Also, although there are other routes out of the estate walking, any way you go you will have to climb at least 40ft. Despite the fact that it is a valley in the physical sense the area is still around 550ft above sea level. The nearby stadium of West Bromwich Albion is the highest stadium in the football league, so it's little surprise the valley is above sea level. Original plans for the estate included convenience stores, but these plans never materialised, and any enterprise would struggle given the fact you cannot go via the estate to anywhere so there is no opportunity for passing trade. The only notable landmark of the estate (other than possibly the highest density of house extensions outside London ) is the hotel on the access road into the estate. Building commenced on this in 1970. It was originally the Europa Lodge Hotel, then it became the Moat House Motel, West Bromich. In a controversial move, the Moat House rebranded itself as the Moat House Birmingham, which now is PARK INN hotel, West Bromwich. It's fair to say that most people in West Bromwich would not like to be associated with Birmingham. The term "Europa Village" possibly comes from the time when the first bus service to the area started. WM Travel may have coined the term as at the time it was alien to the inhabitants of the estate! Now there are two bus routes into the area
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