A LONG-STANDING Ringwood town councillor will not be standing for re-election this May.

Brian Terry joined the council in 2002.

He was mayor between 2007 and 2009 and then again between 2011 and 2012. He is the only councillor at Ringwood who has never served on the district council.

Mr Terry, who has emphysema, told the Journal he had always planned to retire from the council by the time he reached 70. He is now 73.

But he did say the community could rely on him to carry on “complaining, campaigning and sometimes congratulating” the council.

He said: “I have always been interested in community affairs, particularly sporting facilities. I wanted to do something for the community.

“Ringwood reminded me of Bloxwich, a town in south east Staffordshire where I was born.

“I joined and I have been a member of the recreation committee for the past 13 years, which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

“However, one frustrating aspect of being a councillor is that many things take a long time to reach fruition.

“There are many hurdles to jump to get anything achieved. I think Crow Lane and introducing sports facilities at Long Lane in the town are examples of the length of time that it can take for things to go through.”

Mr Terry is president of Ringwood Bowling Club and is passionate about bringing more sporting facilities to Long Lane.

He said: “I am passionate about the town’s desperate need for sporting facilities. We have poor sports facilities and need more for people.

“I believe the same is true of our housing stock. We are losing our young people because we have a terrible shortage of housing for them.

“When youngsters go to university, many who would like to come back to Ringwood don’t simply because there it is terribly hard to find somewhere to live.

“There are many reasons for this, but Ringwood is surrounded by a floodplain, greenbelt land and the Dorset and National Park boundary, which impinges on planning.”

Mr Terry will be missed on the town council when he stands down before the May elections this year, but he has vowed that he will not be turning his back on his political life.

He will be giving 100 per cent support to his wife Jacqui, who is standing as an Independent councillor at the Ringwood elections in May.