It will be a long time before Cr Stuart Wilson stops looking at potholes when he drives around the Ashburton District.

The long-time councillor retired on Wednesday 5 October after 12 years around the Council table, a lot of it spent talking about ways to improve the district’s roading network.

A farmer before he was elected to Council in 2010, Cr Wilson said he might be called on to run the odd farming errand for his sons, but he and wife Betty were looking forward to driving in his vintage Morris 8 Sport to visit friends further afield.

Over the past 12 years, Council has dictated their holidays with many days spent in meetings and workshops.

“Council has been such a huge part of my life and I will miss the fellowship of other councillors and those I have worked with along the way,” he said.

“I set out to improve our roads and I have tried my best. People are now beginning to realise how hard it is for local government to make their roads better when Waka Kotahi doesn’t have money to subsidise the work.”

Cr Wilson said he would still be keeping an interested eye on Council business, including the progress of the second urban bridge.

Other retiring Councillors to say farewell this week at the final meeting of the current term were Cr Angus McKay (who has served nine years), Cr Diane Rawlinson (six years) and John Falloon (three years).

Cr McKay was Mayor when the EA Networks Centre opened in 2015 and he says that landing the $35 million project close to both deadline and budget was a highlight of his time around the Council table.

He was Mayor from 2010 until 2016, and a councillor for the Ashburton ward from 2019-2022.

He is planning to spend more time working in his private business, which cans and exports dairy milk powder from a new plant at the Ashburton Business Park.

Cr Rawlinson was first elected to council in 2016 and has served two terms. She says two bodies of work stand out for her – traffic upgrades through the Tinwald corridor and the siting of the new library and civic centre, now about half-way through construction.

As a resident of Tinwald, she looks forward to the traffic lights Waka Kotahi is now planning at the corner of State Highway 1, Agnes Street and Lagmhor Road, and she will also be keeping a close eye on the progress of the second bridge.

She plans to expand on her work as a celebrant.

Cr Falloon is going back to his primary job, as an accountant, though he is considering learning  to fish in his new spare time.

He says a change in his time that was positive for Council was the move to two-weekly meetings. Pre-covid, Council committees met separately and then as a full body over the course of a six-week cycle, but during the pandemic Councillors met every two weeks – often over Zoom – and dealt with all Council business at the same time.

The changes were retained post-Covid.

Watch the Valedictory speeches here