Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh will have a new reeve after this fall's municipal election.
Ben Van Diepenbeek has announced he's retiring after 27 years on council and 21 years as reeve.
Van Diepenbeek says municipal politics has been a very rewarding experience and he's met a lot of great people. He adds the municipality's in good shape and he's ready to move on to the next phase of his life.
"Over the years there's been lots of changes. Back in the 90s when I became reeve, nutrient management was a big issue and the large livestock barns that were being built at the time and water quality were issues," he says. "Water quality was always going to be an issue and then we went through the phase of the wind turbines."
Van Diepenbeek says another big adjustment was municipal amalgamation, but he believes that's worked out fairly well and he says there's always some resistance to change but people usually end up adapting to it.
Although he won't be completely retired, he'll continue farming, but now he'll have more time to spend with his children and grandchildren.
