Community always came first for former Canterbury mayor

Otago Daily Times

06-05-2025

Being expelled from high school did not stop the late Bill Woods from giving years of his life to his Canterbury community. He died on Good Friday aged 82. Daniel Alvey reports
A kind and gentle man who fought for the little guy is how former mayor Bill Woods is remembered.
Bill died on Good Friday after spending six weeks in hospital care at Mayfair Home following a short and unexpected illness.
One of his daughters, Carmen Nolan, and a close friend were by Bill's side when he passed.
'He was a very good father and a very good man,' Carmen said.
She said her father was always known as Bill, but to the family he was Woodsie.
Bill was mayor of Selwyn from 1992 to 1995 and also served several terms as a councillor between 1989 and 2004.
He also spent some time on the Malvern Community Board and was an Environment Canterbury councillor.
Only a one-term mayor, Bill stood for the role in multiple elections after being voted out.
'His view on it was he didn't necessarily want to become mayor, but he wanted to give people an alternative person to vote for,' Carmen said.
Bill made several unsuccessful attempts to enter national politics between 1978 and 2014, first as a candidate for Labour in the Selwyn Electorate between 1978 and 1982 and then later as a list MP for NZ First in 2011 and 2014.
Deputy mayor Malcolm Lyall was a first-term councillor when Bill was elected mayor and described himself as Bill's 'right-hand man'.
'Very interesting character was our 'Willie' Woods. He always fought for the underdog,' Lyall said.
During the three-year term, Lyall said he helped Bill restructure the council, which was still adjusting from the 1989 amalgamation of Ellesmere, Malvern and part of Paparua (west Christchurch) to form the Selwyn District Council.
'In doing that, we upset a lot of people and it became a split council. There was a vote of no confidence in Bill and all sorts of things,' Lyall said.
In 1995, Bill lost the mayoralty to Michael McEvedy.
Lyall recalled often having Bill over for dinner to help support him after his wife Linda died in 1992.
'If he was over this way (in Prebbleton), we'd invite him in and make sure he would get a square meal.'
He recalled Bill's slightly scruffy appearance.
'I was always on him to buy a bloody suit. He had these blue trousers and a black jacket that never really meshed properly.
'At Christmas time, he had a tie with Santa on it that flashed at you,' Lyall recalled.
Many remembered Bill for his involvement in community groups and in 2022, he received a Queen's Service Medal for his many contributions.
He served with numerous organisations including the Sheffield Waddington Township Committee, Malvern St John, the Glentunnel Museum, and the Hororata Historical Society.
In 1998, Bill joined the Summit Road Society board as the council representative and was later elected as an individual.
He was president of the society from 2009 until late 2023, but remained a board member and last year was granted honorary life membership.
His biggest contribution to the society was donating $600,000 towards the purchase of Tussock Hill Farm in the Port Hills. The land was named the Linda Woods Reserve, in honour of Bill's late wife.
Bill was born in Avondale, Auckland, the eighth of Vi and William Woods' nine children.
Expelled from Avondale College, he started working on the railways with his brother Alan.
Bill trained as an engine driver and by 17 was New Zealand's youngest qualified steam train driver.
In 1962, the railways offered Bill a chance to move to Springfield, living in the single men's accommodation near the railway station.
He was a frequent visitor to Hoglands Store, where a certain young woman worked.
The woman was Linda, who would later become his wife.
'He proposed to Linda with a very romantic 'there's a posting available in Otira with a house, for a married couple',' Carmen said.
In 1967 they moved to Otira as a married couple.
The couple later had two daughters, Carmen and Angela.
Carmen recalled a funny story from her father's railways work.
'In the 1960s, dad and (his friend) Stevie were on a train. It was a hot day, so they stopped the train and skinny-dipped in a pool near the line about Cass.
'The train started to move, so these two naked, barefoot young men had to sprint for the train through scrub and scramble on to stop it.'
In 1969, the couple returned to Springfield, buying the Springfield Poultry farm in 1971.
Bill left the railways in 1973 and worked as a general handyman for the Watson family at their horse stud for many years.
In 1983, Bill and Linda bought the Springfield Store so it could remain open for the locals.
'This was the start of decades of community support and involvement,' Carmen said.
'Woodsie physically helped build the Sheffield Pavilion, the St John Ambulance garage in Darfield and was involved in many fundraising activities.'
After the store, the Sheffield Garage was Bill and Linda's next project, owning the business until Linda's death in 1992.
In 2012, Bill, along with Taege Engineering, rebuilt the Springfield Donut after the original was badly damaged by arson.
Springfield Community Association chair Graeme Dawson said Bill was always a tireless advocate for Malvern.
'He was passionate about what he believed in.'
In recent years, Bill helped Templeton residents fight the Fulton Hogan-run Roydon Quarry and continued to hold the construction company to account once the quarry began operations.
'He was an eco warrior and activist right to the end and always put the community first,' Carmen said.