After 16 years of dedicated service, Helen Hansen retired from her role as Development Services Officer at the end of June. Helen is a long-serving local government employee, having worked for Derwent Valley Council for seven years, prior to taking on a customer service role at Brighton  Council in 2007. Her skills and expertise in the area of planning administration are second-to-none.

Helen has adapted during times of rapid change in our municipality, not least of which has been the huge growth of developments within our area. When Helen started working for Brighton Council, the team was able to function effectively with just herself and one qual­ified town planner. Today, the team consists of five qualified planners, all supported by Helen up until her retirement. Back when Helen commenced, the Council Offices were surrounded by paddocks with horses and cows grazing quietly and lots of open space. Today the Council offices are sur­rounded by new housing.

“I remember vividly myself and two other officers having to try and catch a horse on the loose near Tivoli Road. There were three of us trying to get the horse back where it belonged! You certainly need to be multi-skilled when you work in local government,” Helen recalls with some amusement.

Anyone who has interacted with the Development Services team at Brighton Council is likely to have met Helen. She would assist customers in navigating the planning and approvals process, as well as managing the advertising of development applications, pro­cessing information through the right systems and issuing permits. Even with the many changes to planning schemes in recent years, Helen very effectively managed to stay on top of what was required.

When asked what Helen en­joyed most about her time at Brighton Council, she was very quick to say, “It has most defi­nitely been the work culture. It has always been a great bunch of people to work with, every­one is so friendly and accom­modating. It’s a harmonious work culture from top down and unless you have experi­enced it, it’s hard to believe. It is quite unusual and unique to have this over such a long period of time. I have always enjoyed what I did, but who it is for, and who it is with, that was so important. I leave with many fond memories. It’s truly a wonderful place to work and I will miss you all.”

Although Helen is looking for­ward to some downtime, she is incredibly sad to be leaving her colleagues, customers and work friends at Brighton Council, but is looking forward to staying in touch. Congratulations Helen, your dedication, depth of ex­perience and expert knowledge will leave a big gap, but we hope you have a well-deserved break with many new adven­tures ahead.