Harrogate Conservative county councillor Don Mackenzie has said he will not stand for re-election in 2022.
Cllr Mackenzie has represented the Saltergate ward in Jennyfields on North Yorkshire County Council since 2009.
He is also NYCC’s executive member for access, which includes responsibility for transport.
He has been the council’s public face for numerous high profile transport proposals in recent years, including the £60 million Kex Gill re-route, the controversial Nidd Gorge relief road that was rejected, the Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood and the Station Gateway.
County council elections were due to take place in May this year but have been delayed until May 2022 because of local government reorganisation.
Cllr Mackenzie will be aged 72 by then and told the Stray Ferret that it would be “the right time to call it a day”.
He added:
“I shall look forward to some time to myself. But there’s a lot to do between now and then and I’m not thinking about my pipe and slippers just yet.”
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Cllr Mackenzie has sent leaflets to residents in his ward informing them of his intention to step down.
He first won a seat on North Yorkshire County Council in 2009 when he took Saltergate from the Liberal Democrats.
He was also elected to represent Harlow Moor on Harrogate Borough Council in 2006 and spent time as the borough council leader in 2011/12. He stepped down as a borough councillor in 2018.
Prior to being a councillor, he had a career in business for the Harrogate-based industrial firm MMP.
