Announcing his departure this week, Mr McGowan said he had enjoyed his time at Wingecarribee Shire Council but it was time to move on and look for other opportunities.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with many different personalities on staff and several mayors during my period as general manager," Mr McGowan said.

"Each mayor has brought a different style to the role and we have worked together well as a leadership team.

"There is a great deal of outstanding talent working for council and I really do appreciate the work done and assistance given by so many people in my 20 years here."

Mr McGowan joined Wingecarribee Shire as chief town planner in 1985 and later served for six years as director of environment and planning.

Before coming to Wingecarribee Shire Council, Mr McGowan was the deputy chief planner at Willoughby Council for seven years, and also worked at Canterbury Council, the former State Planning Authority and in private enterprise.

Mr McGowan's contract as general manager of Wingecarribee Shire was extended for four years shortly before the March 2004 council elections.

Mayor Gordon Lewis paid tribute to Mr McGowan's contribution to the shire.

He singled out his outstanding planning work in earlier years and his insistence on addressing the shire's infrastructure issues during his term as general manager.

"In 2000, David told us he was very concerned about maintaining our assets and whilst we did need to work on new projects we had to be constantly mindful of maintaining our existing and very valuable infrastructure," Cr Lewis said.

"We took this advice on board and began our Infrastructure Recovery Strategy (IRS), which has already made a big difference."

Mr McGowan said he considered his greatest achievement to be running with a strategic plan to address the infrastructure problems.

"As we look ahead, I consider this to be not only one of our biggest challenges in Wingecarribee Shire, but also one of the biggest challenges for governments throughout Australia," he said.