Mr Besuijen is one of only a handful of council staff with such a long innings with the organisation, but at 65 he has decided the time is right to take a step back.
Yesterday was his last day at work.
A native of the Netherlands, in 1969 he chose a better lifestyle and a reasonable income over a reasonable lifestyle and high income, and moved to New Zealand with wife Else and a civil engineering degree.
He loves Dunedin as a city, and says it was a move he has never regretted.
He started work with the council in 1971.
During his career with the council he had worked in roading design, contract management, structural design and back in roading - in general maintenance, project works and, latterly, focusing on policy work, in-house training and troubleshooting on projects.
Over the years, he has had a hand in some of the bigger projects in Dunedin, such as the Cumberland St overbridge, the original Tahuna Treatment Plant and the expansion of Dunedin's airport, which he describes as probably his most high-pressure project in terms of the speed with which the council wanted it done.
He is also familiar, in close detail, with many of the city's roads.
He said he had many opportunities over his 42 years of service to turn his hand to all different aspects of civil engineering, something he was not sure people these days would get, with fewer services provided by the council in-house and more use of external consultants.
He was still enjoying the job, but it was time to go.
''I'm really satisfied with my working life with the council, but just feel it will be good to spend some time doing other things, while I'm still healthy and fit enough.''
He was a sailing instructor in his spare time and looked forward to dedicating more time to sailing as well as spending more time travelling and on small building projects for himself.
Asked what he would miss most about his council life, he said it would have to be his daily cycle to and from his Macandrew Bay home.
