years.

Mr. Erwin Adderley, a Bermudian, said last night he had reached the retirement age of 55.

And he wanted to take on fresh challenges.

"I feel now is the right time for someone else to take over,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

He added: "I've really enjoyed my job, and it is sad to be leaving.'' Mr. Adderley, of Happy Talk Lane, Paget, became planning director on October 1, 1972.

"I think I must have held the position for a record time. The Planning Department was set up in 1968.'' Mr. Adderley, who is on holiday, has still to negotiate the date of his departure.

The senior Government post has just been advertised. A replacement has still to be found.

Assistant planning director Mr. Brian Rowlinson must be a strong contender.

Mr. Adderley was born and brought up in Bermuda, but was trained in Canada.

He got a degree in planning in British Columbia. And he also achieved a degree in architecture.

Mr. Adderley went on to work in Canada for a number of years.

For five years he was director of the Old Man River Regional Planning Commission in southern Alberta.

He was the planning overseer of 13,000 square miles -- a far cry from Bermuda's 20 square miles.

Much of the area consisted of hamlets with barely a few 100 people.

"Although it was a huge area, it was not very populated,'' Mr. Adderley pointed out.

Mr. Adderley then joined Bermuda's Government, walking straight into the director of planning post.

During his tenure he has witnessed monumental changes to the Island. And his job became far more taxing -- becoming more high profile and bringing him increasingly into contact with the general public.

"Planning has become more complex and more intricate, and a lot more personal.

"Everybody seems to be involved in planning, and it has become more difficult.'' Mr. Adderley played a key role in two City Plans, and three Island-wide development plans, plotting out Bermuda's long-term future.

These development plans were in 1974, 1983, and the latest one last year.

The Bermuda Plan 1992 is a blueprint for the Island, extending into the 21st Century.

It divides Bermuda into different zones, and is designed to put up the barriers against over development.

Hundreds of people have lodged objections, which have been heard by a special tribunal.

Mr. Adderley outlined what he saw as the biggest challenge facing the Island.

"I think the challenge is to try to balance what is in the public interest versus what the private individual wants to do.

"That is going to be the main challenge and it is more and more difficult to achieve that balance.'' But Mr. Adderley leaves his job with a sense of optimism. And he believes Bermuda is well placed to meet the future.

"I think the advantage of Bermuda is that most people see what is in the public good.

"We need to have some open space and orderly development, that is accepted.'' Planners, however, will still have to contend with human nature.

And when the public feel threatened by planning decisions they will always react.

"When the shoe pinches your foot you will squeal. That is only to be expected and is human nature,'' said Mr. Adderley.