Tamworth Regional Council has elected to renew long-serving General Manager Paul Bennett for a further five years at the final meeting of 2024 on Tuesday, December 17.
Bennett’s tenure and renewal as GM is a rare island of stability among councils in the region, with both Moree and Armidale going through high-profile turnovers of GMs in the past few months.
This stability, May Russell Webb stated, was a key reason in wanting to keep Bennett for another five years.
“The council quite strongly supported the General Manager in being offered another five-year contract” Webb said.
“That strength and stability that we’re seeing here is not actually happening in a lot of other areas.”
Bennett’s renewal was not unopposed, with Councillors Steve Mears and Mark Rodda calling for an open tender process for potential new GMs, or at least delaying a decision until after Christmas and the Country Music Festival in order to give councillors more time to read the GM Review Committee Report.
Mears and Rodda put forward an amendment to allow for more time, but it was defeated in a closed section
Councillor Ryan Brooke stated he had “real issues” with how the vote was handled, saying “ I had several issues with how much notice was given about this item, and the ability Councillors had to read the Committee Report.
“I think it should have been deferred to allow for more time for consideration and discussion, But with the amendment for that lost, I didn’t have a good reason to vote against this request.”
Something going on in your part of the region you think people should know about? Send us a news tip or email newsdesk@netimes.com.au.