Former Liberal Democrat Councillor Martin Pantling says he has enjoyed his time representing Barnfield residents on the Council and is sad that he has to step down from the Council.

“It has been a great privilege to represent Barnfield residents for the past ten years during which time I have met many people and made some good friends. I am taking up a new role which makes it impossible for me to continue as a Councillor, and so have reluctantly had to step down.”

“I have no plans to move away and so will continue to be in touch with what is going on in Barnfield, where I have enjoyed working with local residents on a number of issues over the years.”

Among the many campaigns that Martin worked with Barnfield and Bushmead residents on were:

• successfully halting Labour plans for a Bus Lane along Old Bedford Road.
• opposing the outright merger of Bedfordshire Police with Hertfordshire – supported by Conservative councillors on the Police Authority at the time.
• working hard with residents to persuade Barnfield College to withdraw a huge Planning application that would have seen the loss of most of the local Green Open Space.

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor David Franks said he was sorry to lose a valued colleague.

“I have enjoyed working with Martin over the last ten years during which time he has contributed greatly to the work of the Liberal Democrat councillors whilst working tirelessly for the best interests of Luton generally and Barnfield in particular.”

The Liberal Democrat local party is in the process of selecting a candidate for the by-election and an announcement is expected soon.