Hundreds of seats not contested at Shropshire elections

There will be just 41 elections across Shropshire's 153 town and parish councils, with 242 wards uncontested because of a lack of candidates.

Some towns will have no elections or only one or two wards contended, including Wem, where five members of the town council have decided to step down. They include Nancy Wilson and Peggy Carson, councillors for 22 and 20 years respectively.

Councillor Carson said: "I've decided to retire at the age of 78 so that someone a bit younger can do their bit for the town. In an ideal world we would have had an election and I am very sorry that more people haven't stepped forward."

In Ellesmere two vacancies still remain after only 10 people stepped forward to fill 12 positions.

Five councillors have stepped down with four new members being co-opted on.

The mayor of Ellesmere Alan Clarke said: "It is very disappointing that there isn't to be an election. It shows that there is an insufficient amount of people willing to do work that needs to be done.

"It would be nice if more people wanted to give something back to the town."

Bishop's Castle mayor Keith Pinches said it was the lack of a contested election in Bishop's Castle that convinced him it was the right decision to hand over the mayoral chains and stand down after 13 years in office, four as mayor.

He said: "To be honest if there had been a proper election I probably would have stood again. But if the people aren't coming forward as candidates what can you do? The younger generation don't seem interested – everyone seems so busy now."

Karen Roper from Shropshire Association of Local Councils said: "It is tough to get volunteers for anything in any walk of life and that is what we are asking people to do – volunteer to identify their community's needs and work towards achieving them. There are no monetary rewards, but there is satisfaction and people enjoy seeing things change and knowing they have helped bring that about."

She added: "At the moment there is a bit of apprehension about the Localism Act which wants local people to do more, and many people are thinking: 'How much more do they want us to do for free?'

"We are very diverse. You have got Shrewsbury Town Council and Oswestry Town Council, which are well resourced, with appropriate staff through to tiny parishes that still want to have a voice."

Tomorrow: Shropshire Council elections round-up.