North Shropshire

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Coord Template:Infobox historic subdivision North Shropshire was a local government district in Shropshire, England from 1974 to 2009. The district council was based at Edinburgh House in Wem. Other settlements included the towns of Ellesmere, Market Drayton and Whitchurch, as well as the large villages of Shawbury and Baschurch. The district bordered onto Wales, Cheshire and Staffordshire as well as the Shropshire districts of Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Atcham and the unitary Telford and Wrekin.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of Market Drayton Rural District and North Shropshire Rural District.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

The district and its council were abolished as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. Its functions were taken over from 1 April 2009 by Shropshire County Council, which was renamed Shropshire Council at the same time.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

Settlements

The district council classified Wem, Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Ellesmere as the market towns of North Shropshire, while it gave the classification of "main service villages" to Baschurch, Cheswardine, Clive, Cockshutt, Dudleston Heath, Hadnall, Hinstock, Hodnet, Prees, Shawbury, Tilstock, Welshampton and Woore. The district also included many other smaller villages and hamlets.

Infrastructure

The main roads in the district were the A41, A49 and the A53. There were no motorways.

There were four railway stations in the district: (Yorton, Wem, Prees and Whitchurch), all on the Welsh Marches Line. The Shrewsbury to Chester Line ran through the district as well, but the only station on that section of the line within North Shropshire had been at Baschurch, which had closed in 1965, prior to the district's creation. The Shropshire Union Canal and Ellesmere Canal/Llangollen Canal both ran through the district.

Governance

Political control

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "North Shropshire" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>

Party in control		Years
Template:Party name with colour	1974–2003
Template:Party name with colour	2003–2007
Template:Party name with colour	2007–2009

Leadership

The last leader of the council was David Minnery, a Conservative.

Councillor	Party		From	To
David Minnery<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour		31 Mar 2009

Premises

When created in 1974, the council inherited various offices from its predecessors, including a relatively new office building on New Street in Wem, which had been completed in 1970 for the old North Shropshire Rural District Council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That building was extended in the late 1980s to allow the council's offices to be consolidated there. The extended building was formally re-opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 21 July 1989, when it was renamed Edinburgh House in recognition of his visit.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On the council's abolition in 2009, Edinburgh House passed to Shropshire Council, which subsequently sold it to a housing association in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>