Taupō District Council loses chief executive Gareth Green to New Plymouth

New Plymouth District Council has appointed a new chief executive.

Current Taupō District Council boss Gareth Green will step into the role vacated by Craig Stevenson under a cloud of controversy in July.

Stevenson, who was paid about $400,000, resigned after being put on leave following a secret emergency meeting of councillors.

The council has never spelt out the reason, but confirmed it had received a complaint about his conduct.

Green, who has been with the Taupō District Council for 17 years and its chief executive for six, takes up the New Plymouth role in March.

He said that while he was sad to be leaving Taupō, the time was right for a change.

"I've really loved working for Taupō. This is where I grew up, and so it has been amazing being able to contribute and lead the organisation that does so much to shape this place.

"However, I'm ready to do something new. I've previously worked for New Plymouth District Council and I'm passionate about that community.

"There's some really exciting projects happening there and some challenges we also need to work through, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into those."

New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom said the council was looking forward to welcoming Green, his partner Kylie and their three children to the region.

"We had a very high calibre of applicants for the role of chief executive and Gareth came through with the skills, experience and attitude we were looking for to take New Plymouth District Council to the next level.

"Gareth has strong connections to Taranaki, having lived and worked here early in his career, and understands our vision of a sustainable lifestyle capital.

"His experience building strong relationships with mana whenua, negotiating for resources with Wellington and building a high-performance team focused on delivery have made a meaningful positive difference for the people of Taupō and we are excited about Gareth bringing those skills to Taranaki."