Today, 46 years on, amalgamations are still a hot topic but one Cr Humphery is happy to walk away from.

“I’m not staying for the sake of staying,” he said. “I’m leaving on a positive note, from a council that has done so well, particularly under the leadership of Mayor Peter Blackmore and General Manager David Evans,” Cr Humphery said.

Cr Humphery will not seek re-election at the September 9 local government election. He will instead concentrate on running his small property at Mindaribba and spending more time with his wife Eileen and children, two of whom live overseas.

Born in Sydney and schooled in Cooma, Cr Humphery moved to the Hunter when he purchased a property in Singleton in 1965.

He threw his hat into the local government ring for the first time in 1971 when he nominated for a spot on Patrick Plains Shire Council which surrounded the municipality of Singleton. “Being a rural shire there were a lot of farmers who had a lot of problems and found it difficult to articulate those problems. They needed some representation,” he said. He stayed there two terms.

After purchasing his Mindaribba property, Cr Humphery ran on mayor Peter Blackmore’s election ticket in the early 1990s when Maitland City Council was being run by an administrator after the State sacked the previous council. He has been re-elected every term since.

“Over that time I have seen Maitland evolve and witnessed the demands of the people in the sorts of facilities they wanted to see. Fortunately enough we have been able to deliver them,” Cr Humphery said. “Maitland has become the perfect place to work and live because of its proximity, access to Sydney, vineyards, horse studs, beaches etc. People drive development and many see tremendous advantages of living in this area.”

Highlights of his terms on Maitland council are numerous but Cr Humphery cites the delivery of services such as new sporting facilities and the new indoor pool as being up there with the best.