When Phil Pinyon looks back on more than 50 years in local government, the physical achievements are remembered second behind the people he worked alongside.
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The retiring Loddon Shire chief executive Phil Pinyon will finish in his post in July after five years with the council.
Prior to arriving in the shire's Wedderburn offices in 2016, Mr Pinyon had also had director roles with Tamworth, Toowoomba and Hornsby councils as well as CEO-equivalent roles with five NSW local councils.
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The decision to retire was influenced by a desire to end on a good note.
"I wanted to finish up working with a good council, which is what I experienced here,' Mr Pinyon said. "There are a great bunch of elected members, which makes a difference for a CEO.
"(When choosing Loddon) I was looking for a council where there was a good collaborative work relationship. Size wasn't important, the working environment was. The staff have been a good bunch to work with.
"When looking back on a career, those relationships and the people you work with are the things that stand out rather than physical achievements."
After starting in local government in the early 1970s, Mr Pinyon has been able to work and learn all facets of departments involved in running a council. He said it has helped relate to the people he has worked with since taking on CEO roles.
"One of the things I found that I believe made it easier to relate with people I work with is coming through the ranks after starting as a trainee in '70s," he said. "Working the whole spectrum, that serves you well to understand perspectives of the people you work with.
"There have been changes from the early '70s. Councils have become a lot more professional over the years. I think communities have benefitted from that increased professionalism in local government."
The difference he felt he was making in communities is what kept Mr Pinyon in local governemnt for over five decades. At one point he considered switching careers.
"Early on I looked at options of moving out of local government while I was building my own home," he said "But I found local government is a place you can make a bit of a difference and your efforts are rewarded by seeing the outcomes for the community. That, for me, has been what kept me in the game."
Among his proudest achievements is the restoration of the Empire Theatre in Toowoomba.
"It is an art deco that was past its prime and was being used by TAFE to teach carpenters to build light timber structures," he said. "There was painstaking effort to restore that to original state. I was invited back for opening and it was a very impressive achievement. But you don't achieve anything by yourself, that's why I reflect on the people I work with."
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Locally, Mr Pinyon said he has seen a number of projects come to fruition in the Loddon Shire.
"Quite a few things have turned out well but I can't take credit for all of them," he said. "Lots of things spend years in the pipeline having funding cobbled together.
"The case in point is Donaldson Park (in Wedderburn). We have got the funds together to redevelop that with federal, state and local government involved as well as the community. Those things take time, I won't see that finished but hopefully I can come back and see the outcome.
"We finished the Wedderburn streetscape, the Inglewood Town Hall hub and the Serpentine facilities. The southwest Loddon pipeline was a gamechanger for the farming community. It was initially started before me but getting it completed was an achievement."
Mr Pinyon and his partner are planning to travell with the pandemic releases its grip on international borders.
"We have travel plans and things we like to do together," he said. "She's spent time overseas, so when COVID allows we will spend time in places she has lived. I also have two boys in Sydney with their own families and am looking forward to spending time with them."
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