By Violet Li
President of Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce, Ian Wood, has announced his candidacy for the City of Casey election in October.
A Cranbourne resident for 26 years, Mr Wood decided it was time to give back to the community he had loved for so long.
He will run for the Quarters Ward, which covers Lyndhurst, the north part of Cranbourne West, and the central part of Cranbourne.
Mr Wood said he would be running as an independent and wanted to make it clear that he had no backing of any political party.
Having observed Operation Sandon and the past four years’ administration in Casey Council, Mr Wood said upholding honesty, integrity, and transparency would be his drive.
He did not approve of the way the three administrators ran the council meetings with four or five insignificant items on the agenda, which he believed did not show transparency.
He has been especially opposed to the administrators’ handling of the proposed $40 million Community Hub in the heart of Cranbourne and the forthcoming eviction of Casey Radio and not-for-profit L’Arte Central Café.
“This [the proposed Community Hub] should be put on hold till the elective council comes back,” he said.
As the president of the Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce, Mr Wood said he would advocate for the responsible spending of ratepayers’ funds and the growth of the business community.
“Quarters Ward has a big business community. I am going to go around, talk to the business community, and find out what they expect from the City of Casey,” he said.
“You have to listen. I think that is a very important attribute if you go into public life.
“You should always be available for your constituents, be it business or the people.”
One of Mr Wood’s main priorities would be to lobby for more funds in the southern part of Casey for better infrastructure, and better facilities for maternal health, sports and leisure.
“This council is very north-centric, but most people in Casey live in the southern part of Casey. This is where the population is growing,” he said.
An acquaintance of the late and former mayor Amanda Stapledon, Mr Wood would like to dedicate his term to her legacy, especially her passion for Cranbourne hence his love for Cranbourne if he was elected.
“One of the things she was very passionate about was the Motorcycle GP run, where Casey Council used to close off the main street when the event was on,” he recalled.
“And there were 10,000 motorcycles who used to gather, and they used to head down and convoy to Phillip Island.
“That was a big sense of community, and I would like to see that brought back.”
Embedded in the community and volunteering around for almost three decades, Mr Wood believes he knows where to patch the holes.
He would advocate for community safety and more police as he had witnessed some bad examples of crime during his 20 years of retail working in Cranbourne.
He would advocate for ongoing support for senior citizens as well.
Mr Wood is a part owner of local music station 87.6 Surf FM, which has a long-term relationship with Melbourne’s first 24-hour Indian radio station Radio Haanji.
Mr Wood said he was proud to acknowledge the support of Radio Haanji for his candidacy in the 2024 Casey Council Election.
Mr Wood is also a founding member of Casey Race, and an avid swimmer all year round.
He is a Kennedy Legends member of the AFL club Hawthorn and likes to spend his spare time attending matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
