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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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]