Fareham Borough Council Leader Steps Down
The News, Portsmouth talks to Fareham
Borough Council leader Sean Woodward on stepping down after 38 years.
Borough Council leader Sean Woodward on stepping down after 38 years.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 So, Sean, tell me why you were stepping down.
00:05 It felt like the right time. We've got an all-out election in Fairham, which only comes
00:10 around about once every 25 years, where all the councillors are up for election. And my
00:16 family and I decided about four years ago that the county council election in 2021 and
00:23 the borough election 2022 would be my last. So that's what I decided. An awful lot of
00:30 things I wanted to achieve, I will have achieved. I wanted to see houses coming out of the ground
00:36 at Wellborn, which is something I first proposed 18 years ago. So that's taken a very long
00:43 time to come to fruition. I wanted to see us with two fantastic leisure centres, Fairham
00:49 Live completed, and it will be pretty well complete by April and handed over to the council.
00:56 Solent Airport, which has been a passion of mine for a number of years now, to see that
01:01 really flying, if I can say that. So lots and lots of things achieved, which made me
01:06 very happy. And I just felt it seemed like the time to go where people are saying to
01:13 me, why are you going? Rather than, oh, I think it's about time you should go now. So
01:19 it felt the right time when I've hopefully still got a bit of life for me to do other
01:23 things.
01:24 So tell me where your sort of first interest in politics came from.
01:28 Well, it was when I was 18, I joined the Young Conservatives in Fairham. And that was the
01:34 year that Margaret Thatcher was elected as our first woman Prime Minister. So that'll
01:40 give you an age. And I got involved then and worked with the YCs for a number of years.
01:48 One of the jobs of the chairman of the Young Conservatives, which I was in the 1980s, if
01:54 there was a by-election came along, but nobody wanted to fight, then you got to fight the
01:59 by-election. So I stood in a ward called Sarsbury, where I still am today. And I lost miserably,
02:06 because that ward was the safest liberal ward in the borough. So I stood, I was thrashed.
02:13 And nine months later, I won with 27 votes. And it's kind of all continued from then.
02:19 So I've won 15 elections now, and sometimes with 80% plus of the vote, which is wonderful.
02:26 And it's really nice when people say to me on the doorstep, well, we're voting for you,
02:31 despite the blue rosette, not because of it. I do remember one year, I was the only Conservative
02:36 elected in the borough. I think it was 1994. So yeah, times change.
02:41 So tell me what is your, or is or are your greatest achievements?
02:49 What I have really enjoyed, I suppose, most of all, is working with the residents who
02:55 elect me. So the Sarsbury residents, so people in Sarsbury Green, Burridge, Whiteley, which
03:01 came on stream in my time as a councillor, Parkgate, Swanwick, Lower Swanwick, those
03:08 areas, just working with people, working with the most wonderful groups and organisations,
03:14 and being able to help them along the way. In a number of ways, you have people looking
03:19 for somewhere to meet, perhaps getting community centres built, like Whiteley Community Centre.
03:26 So a new community, giving it a heart, things like that, obviously, on the wider political
03:31 stage, then there's been much bigger projects in Fairham, like Wellborn, like Sovent Airport,
03:38 like Fairham Live, leisure centres. I was really pleased to be able to get a second
03:43 leisure centre for Fairham in Sarsbury. That was really good. So lots of things, but it's
03:51 the little things that really matter. And I guess those are the things I'll miss the
03:54 most when people come to you with an issue which you can help with and make a difference.
04:00 And those, I think, are the achievements that matter.
04:05 So what's been your highlight as leader?
04:08 I think there'll be a number over the years. One I remember really vividly, which was a
04:14 really good day, was the day we unveiled the Falklands Arch in Fairham town centre, when
04:20 Margaret Thatcher came to do that. And that was the 25th anniversary at the end of the
04:25 Falklands War. And that, I think, meant a lot. It meant a lot to the people of Fairham.
04:30 The crowds were big. And that was a real high point during the years. Opening buildings,
04:37 Portchester Community Centre, Whiteley Community Centre, things which really helped the community
04:43 have probably been real highlights for me over the years. Another one, obviously, would
04:48 be winning the election back in 1999, which propelled us into an administration. Because
04:55 contrary to some people's views, Fairham Council has not always been conservative. It's been
05:01 conservative consistently for the last 25 years. Before that, it wasn't.
05:07 So tell me what's next after you step down?
05:10 Well, I don't know. And that's the honest answer. It's going to be a huge, huge change.
05:17 My diary hasn't been my own for nearly four decades now. Other people have populated it
05:23 for all that time. So, you know, to have time, I think, will be quite something. And time
05:29 when hopefully I'm young enough to still be able to enjoy it. So it's going to be a big,
05:35 big change. And I don't know really what it will be like. I guess it'll be like someone
05:40 retires from a job. Although, of course, being a councillor isn't a job. You're not employed.
05:46 So it's more of a vocation. And it'll come to an end. So, yeah, I don't quite know what's
05:52 around the corner in 90 days or whatever it is. But hopefully it'll be something good.
05:59 And tell me how you're feeling about it all.
06:02 Quite mixed feelings, actually. You know, it's taking a lot of getting used to doing
06:07 things. You know, I think of things like mare making. I've been to 38 of those. And things
06:14 I've done really often, which come around every year. And it's a really strange feeling
06:19 when I do my last. So a number of meetings over the next few months are the last of,
06:25 you know, whatever it might be. So I've got two more full council meetings to go. I've
06:30 got a few more meetings of the executive, various community groups, which I meet regularly.
06:35 You know, they'll be the last ones. And I suppose that's, you know, it's quite poignant
06:41 in a way. My very, very last council meeting, I think, really quite appropriately, would
06:46 be the Solent Airport Consultative Committee, which is just a couple of days before polling
06:51 day.
06:52 So tell me what you'll miss the most.
06:56 Lots and lots of interactions with lots of community groups and people and residents.
07:00 You know, I, although a lot of politicians don't enjoy knocking doors and talking to
07:06 people, I really do. And I look forward to that every other year when we have elections
07:11 and knocking doors. It takes longer and longer and longer as the years go by, because more
07:15 and more people want to talk a lot more about what's going on. So I guess it's missing,
07:21 you know, you knock the door and someone opens it and they know exactly who you are. And
07:25 that's nice. And I take that as a compliment. I guess I'll miss writing my newsletters,
07:31 my In Touches, which I introduced into Fairham nearly 40 years ago. I've always wanted to
07:37 be sure that nobody can ever level the allegation, we only hear from you at election time, on
07:44 me. Yeah, they do hear all year round. And I think that's important. So I guess I'll
07:49 miss the self-imposed deadlines of newsletter writing, writing election literature, and
07:55 meetings, meetings, meetings and more meetings. That's going to be quite a change as well.
08:01 To have my own diary, which will be a lot less populated than it was.
08:08 So what advice would you give to your younger self?
08:11 Yeah, that's a difficult one. I think what I would say is, Shaun, take some time out
08:17 for yourself. As time goes by, you know, being a councillor, if you do it, what I've always
08:24 felt to be the right level, it is quite intense. It takes a lot of time. It eats into work
08:31 time, because I've worked through most of my years as a councillor. I've had a job as
08:36 well, a proper job. Family time has been affected. So I guess the advice I would give, take time
08:44 for yourself and take time for your family, because you won't get those days back.
08:48 Okay.
08:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]