Selby council chief set to retire (From York Press)

Selby council chief executive Martin Connor set to retire

9:02am Wednesday 5th December 2012 in Selby & Tadcaster By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

THE long standing chief executive of Selby District Council, Martin Connor, is to retire.

Mr Connor has been with the council for more than 20 years, and has served as chief executive for more than ten years.

He announced his intention to retire from the authority on Monday, as he approaches the age of 60.

A spokesman for Selby District Council said: “The announcement was made to staff this week, and an update will go before full council next week.

“The chief executive is due to retire during 2013 and this early announcement gives the council time to go through the process of recruiting to the position.”

In his time as chief executive of the council, Mr Connor has overseen a number of changes at the authority.

In 1996, he wrote to the Government to help the council gain funding for local homes, and in 1997, met with Government transport chiefs to pressure them to start work on the creation of the Selby bypass.

More recently he has authored a report to the Boundary Commission for England requesting that the boundaries of the Selby district be left untouched.

He also oversaw major changes to the council as the authority attempted to reduce its budget by £3 million per year, including the reduction of council staff.

Mr Connor was unavailable for comment yesterday, but a council spokesman said a replacement chief executive would not be rushed into place.

He said: “No extraordinary payments will be made as part of this process.

“The timetable and what happens next will be decided over the coming months.”