2016 council elections: Tamworth's longest-serving councillor misses out

But it looks like Mr Woodley’s run with council may have come to an end, nearly 50 years after it all began.

On December 6, 1965, The Leader reported Warren Woodley’s first election to council along, with four other fresh alderman.

“Mr Warren Woodley, at 28 years of age, is one of the youngest men elected to Tamworth City Council,” The Leader reported.

Fast-forward 51 years and Mr Woodley is still at the table with a wealth of experience and achievements to boot.

Counting for the 2016 local government election is still under way, but it’s looking more and more likely Mr Woodley won’t be a part of the next Tamworth Regional Council.

“I was sort of prepared for it,” Mr Woodley said.

“It’s fine, I came to terms with it pretty quickly.”

There has been 32,927 formal votes counted for Tamworth Regional Council, and so far Mr Woodley has only secured 793 first preferences.

And the curtain could be potentially brought down on a career spanning 50 years with 38 years of service on council. Mr Woodley served his first term from 1966 to 1968. He took a break from council after his first term, and was next re-elected in 1980. Mr Woodley has been on every council since that point, serving as deputy mayor from 1995 to 1999 and mayor in 2000.  

In his lifetime, Mr Woodley has gone from the youngest man on the council, to the longest serving and most experienced. But his intentions have remained largely the same since the beginning.

“It’s about young people getting jobs in regional areas,” he said.

With so many years of experience behind him, it was always going to be difficult to narrow down the highlights of a lifetime in council.

Mr Woodley counts seeing AELEC, TRECC, the Capitol Theatre and the revamped Peel St coming to fruition as big achievements on council.

On a personal level, Mr Woodley said winning the Noel Park award and earning an OAM meant a lot.

“It’s determination for good things for my community, particularly for kids to understand what’s good life in Tamworth,” he said.

Mr Woodley says his wife Lorraine will be happy to see a bit more of him.

“We’ve been married 55 years now and, we’ve had a wonderful life,” he said.

The long-term councillor said it was up to younger parents to keep the region going.

“If they want a really good, wonderful Tamworth where there is job opportunities and the education is the best you can get and where law and order is a priority, unless people are interested and follow it on, it disappears,” Mr Woodley said.