A major player in lower North Island forestry, Marton man John Turkington says standing for Horizons Regional Council is a natural extension of his positive contribution to the community.
He was a soil conservator for the catchment board in the 1980s, before that became a regional council function. He also worked for the Environment Ministry before starting his own land use and forestry management company.
Land use and economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development are his passion, he said.
He has more than 25 logging crews out harvesting more than a million tonnes of logs a year across the lower North Island - but is not advocating blanket forestry at the expense of other kinds of land use.