Gilgandra Shire Council has appointed Kathryn Larkin as Interim General Manager following the resignation of former General Manager, David Neeves.
Ms Larkin will officially commence in the role on 31 July 2026.
Mayor Doug Batten said "Council conducted an internal Expression of Interest process to identify the most suitable candidate to lead the organisation during the recruitment of a permanent General Manager."
"I am pleased to announce the appointment of Kathryn Larkin as Interim General Manager," Mayor Batten said.
"Kathryn has been a valued member of the Gilgandra Shire Council team since 2017, serving in a variety of leadership roles. During that time, she has developed an extensive understanding of local government operations and has consistently demonstrated strong leadership, sound judgement and exceptional management capability."
"Council was fortunate to have a number of highly capable executive leaders who were capable to fill the role, making this a difficult decision. We are grateful to have such a talented executive leadership team and have every confidence that Kathryn will provide strong leadership during this transition."
Mayor Batten said Ms Larkin brings significant experience and highly regarded tertiary qualifications that make her well suited to the role of Interim General Manager.
Kathryn will remain in the position while Council undertakes the formal recruitment process to appoint a permanent General Manager, which is expected to take several months.
Council has engaged Leading Roles, a specialist local government executive recruitment firm, to manage the recruitment process.
The recruitment process will be overseen by Council's appointed Recruitment Panel comprising Mayor Doug Batten, Deputy Mayor Cr White and Councillor Bunter, with Leading Roles providing the independent panel member. The appointment process will be conducted in accordance with the NSW Office of Local Government's Guidelines for the Appointment and Oversight of General Managers.
"Council is committed to undertaking a thorough and transparent recruitment process to ensure we appoint the best possible candidate to lead our organisation into the future," Mayor Batten said.
"On behalf of Council, I would like to sincerely thank Mr David Neeves for his dedicated service to our community and wish him every success in his future endeavours.
"At the same time, we are excited to move forward under Kathryn's interim leadership from 31 July and maintain the momentum Council has built as we continue working towards our strategic objective of growing our population Toward 5,000."
