Just a few days after celebrating his 80th birthday, Maitland City Council building surveyor Barry Sagar is ­retiring.

But Mr Sagar’s wife Tess – and everyone who knows him – will believe this when he attends his farewell party tomorrow.

Mr Sagar resigned last week from his job of 15 years.

That position came about when Mr Sagar was asked to fill in for a few weeks for a woman who was on ­maternity leave and he has been there ever since.

“We think the woman he filled in for has had several children since,” quipped wife Tess.

“As I remember, Barry has been going to retire at Christmas time for at least the last five years.”

“I loved the work I did, but perhaps the time has finally come now for me to retire and do other things,” Mr Sagar said.

A grandfather of two boys, Mr Sagar is an elder of the Living Light Methodist Church at Rutherford and a member of the Morpeth Men’s Shed.

“My work as a building surveyor involved ensuring buildings provided the functions they were designed for,” he said. “This also meant seeing that council requirements in development plans were followed.”

Mr Sagar began his career in Sydney, then worked for Kuringai council for nine years before starting a building consultancy business.

At Maitland council, he was also involved in formulating regulations for the industry.

“I feel my work has been valued. Council said they didn’t want me to leave,” Mr Sagar said. “Of course that makes me feel good.

“But it is time now to look at other things.

“I am fully involved in my church and I want to help families who are struggling.

“I think many families have lost the plot now and, for this, I blame governments for taking too much authority away from parents.

“As for working at 80, I think it is a good idea to keep people at work for as long as possible.

“And now I am looking forward to a good lunch with my colleagues on Friday.