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A VETERAN councillor has decided to retire at the forthcoming local elections.
Cllr Gary Cowan has represented Arborfield for 27 years, first as a Conservative and latterly as an independent.
But on Thursday, May 2, voters will go to the polls to select a new representative for their ward.
Cllr Cowan achieved more than 75% of the vote when he was last elected, in 2022.
However, the passage of time means Cllr Cowan feels he must retire.
“With my beloved Katie, wife of 57 years, passing away two years ago and my sailing past ears not mph, a recent kidney removal together with ongoing chemo for prostate cancer have all meant that I am able to walk the ward no longer,” he said. “It led me to the inevitable recognition that it’s time to pass the baton on to others.”
This year’s local elections will be the first under new boundaries and will see all 54 seats up for grabs.
The redrawn wards all have three councillors, something that concerns Cllr Cowan.
“Having larger wards with three Councillors just triples the cost for an Independent candidate for canvassing, electoral material etc,” he said. “It would appear that Westminster has managed to get Whitehall to start the process of erasing independent political representation.
“It may be easier for the big political parties, but residents and democracy as a whole will be all the poorer for it.
“Time will tell whether it’s just my nostalgia for Independent Councillors or whether one resident one Councillor is more effective on both costs as well as outcomes.”
He also wanted to see some parts of the council reformed, including introducing a scoring system so residents could understand the workload of councillors, and discern who can help them.
“The Council would also do well to reform the process for complaints about Councillors, whether from residents, Officers or other Councillors, into one that is both transparent and scrupulously fair – as nearby Councils have all done for years,” he added.
Among his achievements, Cllr Cowan said he was proud to persuade councillors to revamp the council’s constitution and make it fit for the 21st century.
“If carried out successfully, then perhaps the end of my time at Wokingham Borough Council may not be marked with the more usual failure that dogs every politician,” he said.
On his retirement, he said: “Thank you to Arborfield and other residents of the Borough for your continued support – it’s been an honour, and often a pleasure, to serve you all.”
Cllr Cowan is not the only politician who has announced they will step down. Former council leader Clive Jones is to focus on his general election campaign, and former Liberal Democrat leader Lindsay Ferris is to step down from his Twyford seat.
