After five years in the post, the Director of Planning Rudolph Hollis has quit his job for personal reasons.

Rudolph Hollis said yesterday his last day at Planning would be December 31. ?I submitted my resignation. I am taking early retirement,? Mr. Hollis said.

Mr. Hollis said he did not have a job to go to in the private sector. Mr. Hollis would not comment further and referred comments to Permanent Secretary for Environment, Wayne Carey.

Mr. Carey said Mr. Hollis sought early retirement because of personal reasons.

?He will be missed,? Mr. Carey said. ?We now need to find someone to replace him who has the same depth of knowledge.?

Mr. Carey said he intended to fill the Director?s position as quickly as he could. Mr. Hollis gave Government his notice in the beginning of October.Mr. Hollis has worked at the Department of Planning for 32 years and held the Director?s position for five years.

At this early stage Planning?s two Assistant Directors ? Erica Smith and Brian Franklin ? may be considered front runners for the post of Director but Government placed a Notice seeking a replacement on Friday.

It said the Director of Planning post paid $125,765 per year but required a minimum of ten years? planning experience in a senior management position.

All job applications must be submitted by November 9.

President of the Institute of Bermuda Architects (IBA) Julia van Beelen said Mr. Hollis would be missed. ?He has been a good Director,? she said. ?I certainly have a lot of time for him. Certainly he has had challenges as a bunch of people left, but that was not his fault. People move on.?

For example, Larry Williams left Planning in 2004 to work for Habitat for Humanity, she said.

But she was confident that the transition at Planning would be a smooth one.