Who does what in Shifnal?
Two councils cover Shifnal, and which one handles what isn't obvious. This page splits every service in the directory into who actually runs it — so you know who to tell.
Who do I tell about…
The most common ones, with the body that handles it and the link to report it. Everything else is grouped by council below.
The split, service by service
Every record in the directory, grouped by the body responsible for it. Each links through to its full entry — what they do, how to report it, how to complain, and the official source it's based on.
- Town — Shifnal Town Council
Run by Shifnal Town Council 16
The most local tier, paid for by the precept — a small part of your council tax. Amenities, buildings and open spaces in the town itself.
- Streetlights — Town Council owned (300+ lights)
- Shifnal Library — day-to-day running
- Allotments
- Parks, open spaces & grass cutting (town land)
- Priorslee Road Cemetery
- Public toilets
- Bus shelter (Victoria Road)
- Shifnal Shuttle Bus Shifnal Town Council (operated by the Friendly Bus)
- Shifnal Community Hub (room hire)
- The Old Fire Station (exhibition & room hire)
- Hanging baskets & planters
- Car parks (Aston Street & Kings Yard) unconfirmed
- Millennium Clock unconfirmed
- Community notice boards unconfirmed
- Community grants
- CCTV in the town
- Unitary — Shropshire Council
Run by Shropshire Council 28
The unitary authority, responsible for the great majority of day-to-day services — bins, roads, planning, schools, social care and most of the street scene.
- Household waste & recycling collections
- Missed bin collection
- Bulky waste collection (large items)
- Garden waste collection
- Potholes & road defects
- Pavements & footways
- Road drainage & blocked gullies
- Road signs & markings
- Streetlights — most street lighting
- Fly-tipping
- Dog fouling
- Graffiti
- Public rights of way & footpaths
- Trees on highways & council land
- Planning applications
- Planning enforcement (breaches of planning control)
- Building control (building regulations)
- Council tax
- Housing benefit & council tax support
- Blue badges (disabled parking)
- Libraries (incl. Shifnal Library)
- Registrars — births, deaths & marriages
- Schools & admissions
- Adult social care
- Children's social care & safeguarding
- Environmental health (noise, pests, food safety)
- Licensing (alcohol, taxis, events)
- Flooding — surface water & ordinary watercourses Shropshire Council (Lead Local Flood Authority)
- Unitary — Shropshire Council
Joint — the April 2026 street-scene pilot 2
Shropshire Council still runs these and is still who you tell. Since 1 April 2026 the two councils plan them together under the pilot’s “collaborative model”, but nothing has been transferred to the Town Council.
Report these to Shropshire Council, exactly as you did before the pilot.
Shifnal Library sits in both columns, and that's correct. Shropshire Council's own library page states the library is managed and staffed by Shifnal Town Council — so the building, its staffing and its opening hours are the Town Council's. The library service — your membership, the catalogue, borrowing and returning across Shropshire — is still Shropshire Council's.
In practice: ask the Town Council about the building and its hours, and Shropshire Council about your card or a book.
Everyone else
Plenty of what people bring to a council isn't a council matter at all. These are the other bodies in the directory.
- Police
Police 1
- Anti-social behaviour & non-emergency crime West Mercia Police
- Utility
Utility 2
- Water supply, leaks & low pressure Severn Trent
- Sewer flooding & blocked sewers Severn Trent
- NHS
NHS 2
- NHS — GP, dentist & urgent care NHS (via NHS 111 for urgent, non-emergency help)
- NHS complaints (about NHS services) NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin ICB
- National
National 5
- Power cuts National Grid Electricity Distribution
- Gas emergency / smell of gas National Gas Emergency Service (Cadent network)
- Flooding — main rivers & flood warnings Environment Agency
- Fire & rescue (emergencies) Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service
- Motorways & trunk roads (M54) National Highways
- Private / Other
Private / Other 1
- Trees on private land The landowner (with exceptions for protected trees)
The numbers worth knowing by heart. 999 for an emergency — fire, police or ambulance. 111 when it's urgent but not life-threatening. 101 for non-emergency police. 105 for a power cut. 0800 111 999 for a smell of gas. Shropshire Council's general line is 0345 678 9006; Shifnal Town Council's is 01952 461420.
The confusing one: streetlights
Not every streetlight in Shifnal belongs to the same body. The majority are Shropshire Council's — but Shifnal Town Council owns and maintains over 300 lights around the town (its contractor is currently E.ON).
How to tell which is which, and who to tell:
- Check the Town Council's list first. Shifnal Town Council publishes a list and a map of the lights it owns on its Street Lighting page. If your light is on that list, email the Town Council at info@shifnaltowncouncil.gov.uk.
- If it's not on that list, it's almost certainly Shropshire Council's — report it via Shropshire Council's report-a-faulty-streetlight page.
- Not sure? Email the Town Council — they can tell you whether it's one of theirs and, if not, point you to Shropshire Council.
Another gotcha: the “fire station”
You may see “The Old Fire Station” listed under Shifnal Town Council. That's a historic building / community venue — it is not the fire service. For a fire or rescue emergency, always dial 999 (Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service). Don't try to reach the fire service via the Town Council.