Councillor calls time on politics
AFTER more than 40 years, the Stewart Island community will need to find another voice to advocate for it.
Stewart Island/Rakiura ward councillor Bruce Ford has been in local politics since 1977, but has decided this term will be his last on the Southland District Council.
He will stand down in October. He said felt a mix of emotions about his decision — while he was relieved to step down from the council to focus on his family and personal projects, he was also proud of everything the community had achieved.
‘‘Stewart Island requires some new blood, really [at council level]. Someone with fresh ideas, as they probably have had enough of mine,’’ he said.
‘‘As time goes by, everything you do becomes very bureaucratic, my patience got probably thinner.’’
Cr Ford (76) moved to the Island in 1968 to work in the paua and fishing industry.
He never left, and he raised his family on the island.
His involvement with local politics had come as a natural pathway for him, he said.
‘‘I have a theory that you can’t complain unless you are prepared to have a go. So because I tend to complain a lot, I did not have any other choice.’’
The years had taught him that to achieve things he had to work within legal and bureaucratic frameworks.
It could take time, determination and a good network to make things happen, he said.
The community had achieved a lot over the decades, and among the highlights were the new Rakiura Museum, the implementation of the visitor levy and the building of the island’s power station in 1988.
The power station transformed the community as it ended the dependence on ‘‘noisy and smelly’’ household diesel generators.
‘‘This was a big project for a small community but 30 years later we still benefit from it.’’
Cr Ford now hoped to have more time to visit his children who lived abroad and focus on his project of building a seniors’ cottage on the island.
Land was bought by the Stewart Island Seniors Cottage trust years ago, but he wanted to focus on finding nearly $1 million to get the project off the ground.
Many older people living on the island were struggling or needed to leave because they could not afford the island’s living costs, he said.
‘‘I want to have more time to do my own things and I need to get some traction on this project which is very important or me — or at least leave a succession plan if I am not here.’’
At 45 years’ local government service, Cr Ford is one of the longestserving councillors in New Zealand — Grey deputy mayor Doug Truman tallied 48 years’ service.
Cr Ford urged people from his community to come forward to fill the seat he had held for more than 40 years.
‘‘Over many years we had the real possibility of losing our representation at the council and I don’t believe people could get a true voice from further afield. It needs to be someone from the community who understands the island.’’