LAURIE Stewart has announced that he is standing down as president of the Bowral Chamber of Commerce due to increased business commitments.

Mr Stewart, proprietor of Mittagong-based Southern Highlands Taxi and Tourist Coaches, will stand down at the chamber's annual meeting to be held at The Briars on Monday.

Speculation has already begun over who will follow Mr Stewart, who has only been in the chair for 12 months after replacing former councillor Helen Chadwick.

Describing his stint in office as "an enjoyable 12 months", Mr Stewart would not be drawn on a potential successor, only saying, "there were a couple of possible candidates to mind".

A larger than life figure, there has certainly never been a dull moment during Mr Stewart's presidency and he will probably be best remembered for presiding over Bowral Chamber of Commerce's withdrawal from the Southern Highlands Business Chamber.

When questioned as to why he had decided to call it a day, Mr Stewart said it was only ever his intention to stand for 12 months.

"I have enjoyed my time as president but it does place demands on one's time and I do have a big business to run employing 45 taxi drivers.

"It's very hands on and I want to put all my energies and heart and soul into this.

"If, just for arguments sake, I happened to be fortunate enough to sell my business I would have the time to do something like this long-term but that's not the case at present".

In his regular weekly column this week, (see Page 10) Mr Stewart jokes that a friend said to him recently that he had built up a good profile for himself over the last year, in which he replied he had also made a number of enemies.

"Any form of public life is such that you will never please all of the people all of the time.

"However, one must never lose sight of the important fact which is you are representing the people who put you there and you must continue to support the majority of them".

Bowral chamber secretary Jane Walsh admitted that Mr Stewart would be a tough act to follow.

"In my opinion, he's been excellent while his wife Cheryl has also been very active during the past year.

"He has been to every meeting during that time and is very knowledgeable about business in the area.

"Laurie also did a lot of work on the Wingecarribee growth strategy".