A staunch defender of the status quo, Mr Braddon took what ever opportunity he could to reacquaint the chamber of his age-old opposition to the construction of the community centre and while the chance presented itself, expressed his dislike of the proposed cultural centre.

His current pet project though, the construction of the bridge over Brown’s Creek linking Millthorpe and Carcoar, has the support of some of the candidates that are hoping to replace him.

Mr Braddon joins Shane Oates and Kevin Radburn in leaving three vacancies on council for the September 9 local government election.

Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson presented all three of the departing councillors with a framed group photograph of all of the councillors and senior staff.

Mr Ferguson also presented Mr Braddon with a silver platter.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with him for the past 18 years and have learnt quite a few things from him over these years,” Mr Ferguson said.

Mr Ferguson said that he as mayor had a lot in common with probably every other mayor that had preceded him, especially when it came to dealing with Mr Braddon’s incendiary manner.

“It’s hard for me to speak on behalf of all those mayors, but I think that one thing that we all have in common is that at one stage or another, we would have all liked to have throttled him,"

“Regardless of that, your seniority, your experience and your knowledge was always valuable and would be recognised by your councillors.”

Mr Braddon’s final speech reflected on what he sees as one of his greatest achievements.

President Barry Colbert and I removed the ridings within the shire, where you would have two members from Lyndhurst and two from other parts, it was too parochial,” he said.

His words of advice for those thinking about entering local government are simple.

“If you can’t take it, you shouldn’t be here.”