Truth and resignation

A couple of years back, I was introduced to Mark Kerr, Chief Executive of Powys County Council, a large, rural local authority that covers the centre and east of Wales in the UK. Mark is an ex Roayl Navy Rear Admiral with an intelligent, focussed manner; it was a pleasure to invite him to take part in the Hay on Earth Sustainability Seminars that I organised for the first time in 2008.

The event was in part a Road to Damascus experience for Mark, and he recognised the scale of change that he and his council needed to take to step up to speed on change for sustainability.

Wind the clock forward one year, and Mark Kerr has just resigne, with a report on the BBC web site giving details. The article mentions that 'He was critical of councillors in an article in reNews on 5 February, which claimed councillors keen to appease local anti-wind farm sentiment were threatening the future of projects planned for Powys. Mr Kerr is reported as saying: "Local members tend to have less respect for policy than for local sensibilities".

I sincerely hope that Mark's resignation will have an impact on the thinking, courage and action of the councillors and co-officers at Powys. We need courage and action more than ever.