Editing Shropshire (section)

===Divisions and environs===
{{See also|List of civil parishes in Shropshire}}
Most of the [[Ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial county]] of Shropshire is covered for purposes of local government by [[Shropshire Council]], a [[unitary authority]] established in 2009. [[Telford and Wrekin]] is a unitary authority, with [[borough status]], which forms part of the county for various functions such as [[Lord Lieutenant]] but is a separate local authority from Shropshire Council. Many services are shared by both authorities, such as the [[Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service|fire and rescue service]], and the two authorities co-operate on some projects such as mapping flood risk.

The new unitary authority for Shropshire, [[Shropshire Council]], divides the county into three areas, each with its own [[area committee]]: North, Central and South. These area committees deal with town and country planning matters.

With the parishing of the formerly [[unparished area]] of Shrewsbury in 2008, the entire ceremonial county is now [[Civil parishes in England|parished]]. The sizes of parishes varies enormously in terms of area covered and population resident. Shrewsbury is the most populous parish in the county (and one of the most populous in England) with over 70,000 residents, whilst [[Boscobel, Shropshire|Boscobel]] is the smallest parish in Shropshire by geographical area and by population, with just 12 residents according to the 2001 census.<ref>[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=0&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790501 National Statistics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613065021/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=0&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790501 |date=13 June 2011 }} Bridgnorth district parishes</ref> The smaller parishes (with populations of less than 200) usually have a joint [[Parish councils in England|parish council]] with one or more neighbouring parishes, or in some instances, have a [[parish meeting]] (such as in [[Sibdon Carwood]]). The urban area of Telford is divided into many parishes, each covering a particular suburb, some of which are historic villages or towns (such as [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]]). The parish remains an important sub-division and tier of local government in both unitary authority areas of Shropshire.