THE clerk of Letchworth Town Council has resigned after just six months in the post. Letchworth GC town councillors were advised earlier this week that their clerk, Richard Bowran, will leave at the end of April. In a press statement, Mr Bowran said he wa

THE clerk of Letchworth Town Council has resigned after just six months in the post.

Letchworth GC town councillors were advised earlier this week that their clerk, Richard Bowran, will leave at the end of April.

In a press statement, Mr Bowran said he was moving to a council with "a more conventional agenda" which is nearer to his home.

He said it had been an interesting time in the development of democratic representation in Letchworth GC.

But he also acknowledged that a number of recent issues have detracted from developing representative services for the community.

Mr Bowran said: "The council will shortly be moving into offices in the town centre and I hope that the people of Letchworth will then see the council as being more accessible."

Since Letchworth Garden City Town Council was formed in June 2005 there have been a total of three temporary clerks and two permanent clerks - Peter Evans and Richard Bowran.

Five town councillors have also resigned since the council's inception.

Town councillor Paul Lai said: "I'm very disappointed that Richard has resigned. He is the best clerk around and I will do my best to persuade him to stay.

"I think his leaving will have a detrimental effect on the council. It will be bad publicity for us because it looks like we can't hang onto our clerks at all."

The town council's chairman Tony Wickham said: "Richard has been an excellent clerk and a great servant to the town.

"He was national clerk of the year last year and we were very lucky to have recruited him in the first place.

"He has used his skills and abilities to get us running efficiently and we are sorry to see him leave.

"Many of us have known for some time that he has been looking at working for a more local council and knew we'd struggle to keep him and so this is no real surprise.

"Letchworth is a challenging council and his successor has some great foundations to build upon.

"We aim to stay in touch with Richard and benefit from his advice and support in the future."

Town councillor Derek Hodgson said: "It's a bit of a shock. I think he has done a good job and basically I think he will be missed.