Mrs. Patsy Phillips' three-year term as National Trust president ends tonight but the debate on her stewardship of the organisation is bound to continue.

Her strong-willed drive to modernise Trust operations and to raise unprecedented amounts of money for its preservationist mission fostered more critics than anyone expected.

She was criticised for selling out Trust principles on big development projects and for an authoritarian style that left people disaffected.

But for all the shot and shell that marked her term, many people agree Mrs.

Phillips' presidency was a time of critical progress.

Trust lawyer Mr. Alan Dunch says Mrs. Phillips leadership brought the Trust "out of its embryonic age''.

"The biggest thing she accomplished was to bring about a recognition that the Trust is a business and must be operated like one,'' he said. "That was a concept many people for many years had trouble accepting. Now, it's a much more businesslike organisation. I admired her never-ending drive and determination. There were times I wondered how she put up with what she did.'' On the other hand, one long-time Trust member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, criticised Mrs. Phillips for "bull-headedness about things she thought should be done''.

"She would press on into things when sometimes it would have been wiser to take a softer route to the same objective.'' The member also criticised Mrs. Phillips' years for too much emphasis on money-raising among the rich.

"The Trust is a populist organisation and it may have lost a bit of that.'' Despite the opinion, the member still concluded that Mrs. Phillips "has been good for the Trust. She's been a good, strong president.'' Yesterday, Mrs. Phillips' said she felt sad about leaving the post.

"I really enjoyed the job. It was probably the greatest challenge of my life.

I don't think people realise what a challenge it is.'' She said the strains of the post was primarily due to the constant exposure with "people needing answers all the time. I had to learn to think on my feet.

"Even though I had worked for volunteer organisations before, I never had to use my brain as much since school days. I found it exhausting. To suddenly be thrown into running a million dollar organisation when you haven't been doing it on a regular basis is very exhausting.'' Mrs. Phillips considers the Trust's money-raising record to be her greatest accomplishment. Its success helped it launch the massive project to restore its historic buildings in St. George's.

"I have been criticised that I've made money the number one goal, but for me personally if you can get the money everything else follows. Money is vital for the Trust if it is to fulfill its mandate: to preserve open spaces and historic buildings.'' The second major accomplishment identified by Mrs. Phillips was the creation of policies and rules to govern Trust operations.

Up to the time she became president, there was nothing on paper. Everything was done in an ad hoc, "word-of-mouth'' manner. There were no job descriptions, or positions on a vast array of things such as allowing dwellers to add on to the Trust's historic houses. "We needed to bring this under control. It was particularly important in view of the fact that the Trust is run by volunteers. We needed a policy book to ensure continuity.' Mrs. Phillips acknowledged the ouster of Trust director Mr. Alwyn McKittrick plunged the Trust into its "most difficult situation ever''.

The battle, which divided the organisation, spilled into the public arena, sullying its reputation and threatening its ability to raise money.

Mrs. Phillips said the dispute "boiled down to Trust growing pains and the fact that people don't like change''.

"But change was essential because the Trust had to become more professional.

It had got too big not to be anything but a completely professional organisation.'' A third accomplishment identified by Mrs. Phillips is the plan to double the number of elected members on the 13-member Trust council to ten. The plan, which would drop guaranteed seats for long-serving conservation groups, aims to increase the council's accountability to the membership.

As one insider said last night: "It is typical of the kind of work Patsy has done. It gets people mad as hell but we'll vote for it in the end because it's good for the Trust.''