Shropshire Today is an independent news and information site for the Shropshire Council area. We read the public record and publish what is in it, and we keep the practical local pages accurate.
The county, and the exception
Shrewsbury is the county town and our editorial anchor, and the council’s area takes in Oswestry, Whitchurch and Market Drayton in the north, Bridgnorth and Much Wenlock in the east, and Ludlow, Craven Arms, Bishop’s Castle and Church Stretton in the south. Around 333,000 people live across a very large rural authority, so distances are long and a decision taken in Shrewsbury can land fifty miles away.
The exception is Telford. Telford and Wrekin is a separate unitary authority inside the ceremonial county, and Shropshire Council’s bin rounds, planning decisions and council tax bands do not apply there. We are explicit about that on every service page, because getting it wrong wastes people’s time.
What we report
Shropshire Council’s planning register and committee papers, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the Severn and the Teme, and company filings in The Gazette. Flooding on the Severn is a recurring subject in Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and the riverside villages, and we report the official warnings rather than the version going round.
One council, since 2009
Shropshire has been a unitary authority since 2009: planning, waste, highways, licensing, council tax, schools and social care all sit with the same body. That makes its committee papers the single most useful record of what is happening in the county, and it means there is nobody for it to pass a question to.
Tips and corrections
In a county this spread out, residents nearly always know first. Email hello@shropshiretoday.co.uk with a tip, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections are made quickly and noted on the page.
Shropshire Today is part of Future Business Media.