David Burch?s resignation from key Government boards has caught many by surprise while the Opposition last night said it showed splits in housing policy.

News of Lt. Col. Burch?s resignation as chairman of the West End Development Corporation (Wedco) and deputy chairman of the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) leaked out this week, with dissatisfaction with housing policy being cited. The departure is a further blow to Government?s housing policy.

Just last month the Development Applications Board turned down BHC?s application to build 38 new homes on Perimeter Lane, Pembroke, after neighbours protested.

And the Southside project, which promised nearly 200 homes, is months behind schedule and has been hit by resignations as Government scrambles to find a new champion after non-profit company Bermuda Homes for People was declared insolvent. Lt. Col. Burch had openly expressed a desire to bring the Wedco, BHC and Bermuda Land Development Corporation together in some form to get efficiencies in tackling affordable housing.

He resigned two weeks ago but last night a Government spokeswoman again said no statement would come until Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent had met with Lt. Col. Burch who was briefly Housing Minister during his time in Jennifer Smith?s Cabinet.

Wedco board member Edward Harris said he was surprised and saddened by the announcement. He told : ?Personally I am very disappointed because I think good progress was being made, things were starting to move, other things were being planned.

?He was a very energetic individual.?

And one Wedco staffer said: ?We had a very cordial relationship. Whenever something like this occurs you are concerned about momentum.?

Opposition Housing spokesman Wayne Furbert said: ?It shows that Government is at odds as far as what direction it wants to go.?

Bermuda Public Services Union leader Ed Ball said of Lt. Col. Burch?s departure: ?I was surprised like most of Bermuda.

?He?s a man who gets things done and at the end of the day he will try to effect a resolution between parties.?

He said Lt. Col. Burch understood industrial relations and was prepared to listen.

Mr. Ball said relations must have soured with Government although he didn?t know the details behind the split.

?I hope we can find someone equally prepared to work hard to try to resolve the housing crisis that Bermuda continues to face, particularly with low cost housing.?