Billesley is a ward within the council constituency and parliamentary constituency of Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. It is south of the city centre and includes the area of Billesley and much of Yardley Wood as well as the Hollybank Road area of Kings Heath. It is contiguous with the Birmingham wards of Highter's Heath on the south-west, Brandwood and Kings Heath on the west, Moseley on the north and Hall Green South on the east. To the south-east is the Shirley West ward of Solihull. The suburb of Billesley is the area bordered by Billesley Common, Chinn Brook Meadows, The Dingles and Swanshurst Park (although some streets within this area favour the broader B13 moniker of Moseley). The expansion of this area began in 1921 with the commencement of construction of the Billesley Estates. Two districts began to form within Billesley; one on the former Ivy House Farm (north of Trittiford Rd) and the other on the former Billesley Farm (south of Trittiford Rd). By 1926, between 15 and 20 families were moving into Billesley each week and it became one of Birmingham's first council estates. Etymology The name derives from an Anglo-Saxon named Bill who established himself within the area. -Ley means "woodland clearing" and a woodland clearing is known to have existed in Billesley north of Chinn Brook. Demography The 2001 Population Census found that 25,874 people were living in the area with a population density of 4,537 people per km2 compared with 3,649 people per km2 for Birmingham. Billesley has an area of 6.4 km2/ 566.2 hectares. Females represented 52% of the population, compared with 51.6% for the whole of Birmingham. Billesley is not an ethnically diverse area with ethnic minorities representing 12.3% (3,312) of the ward's population compared with 29.6% for Birmingham. 8.4% of the population was born outside of the United Kingdom, lower than the Birmingham average of 16.5% and slightly lower than the national average of 9.3%. 88.1% of the population was classed as being in the broad ethnic group of White. This is higher than the Birmingham average of 70.4% yet lower than the national average of 90.9%. The Asian ethnic group was the second largest in the ward at 6.2%, below the city average of 19.5% yet higher than the national average of 4.6%. More specifically, the White British ethnic group was the largest at 83.2% and the White Irish was the