Working at Launceston and Devonport City Councils, Meander Valley Council and finally the West Tamar Council, he said local government was enjoyable.

“My most memorable experiences were a period in Devonport developing and designing a safer traffic management road system for the north Devonport area,” he said.

“And in the first two years at Meander Valley Council, just after the 1993 amalgamations where I rebuilt the Infrastructure Department from scratch. It’s is still running the same way today.”

More recently he has been working on the Beaconsfield Mine stabilisation project.

“I will mostly miss the challenges of engineering, the problem solving and the ability to improve the local infrastructure,” he said.

Having spent the past nine years at the West Tamar Council, Mr Howard is looking forward to spending time with his wife and family, as well as gardening, travelling and working on his vintage vehicles.