November 18, 2015
The South Burnett Regional Council bid a fond farewell to its General Manager of Corporate Services Stan Taylor on Wednesday.
Mr Taylor has filled the role since 2009, overseeing the Council’s Planning and Land Management, Natural Resource Management, Parks, Social and Corporate Performance and Corporate Services divisions.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann and CEO Gary Wall both paid tribute to Mr Taylor, who will be going into retirement.
“It’s a measure of this man that he told us he wanted to make sure his last day at Council was one where we were holding a general meeting,” Mayor Kratzmann said.
“His dedication to the job has been amazing, and we’ll all miss him.”
CEO Gary Wall agreed, saying that Mr Taylor’s dry wit was well known and much appreciated.
“Stan is often able to say what we’re all thinking … but the difference is that he can get away with it,” Mr Wall joked.
Mr Taylor’s biggest project over the last few years had been merging the region’s four old Planning Schemes into a new region-wide Planning Scheme that is expected to be available for public input early next year.
He was also in charge of co-ordinating the region’s disaster management efforts in the 2011 and 2013 floods.
His efforts in those crises were greatly appreciated, Mr Wall said.
He wished Mr Taylor and his wife Carol a long and stress-free retirement.
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Mr Taylor’s role will be taken over by Peter O’May, who was appointed to fill the position last month.
Mr O’May was CEO of the former Wondai Shire Council after the retirement of long-serving CEO Alan Keates in 2007, and worked in that role until the Council amalgamations of 2008.
He then left the region to become CEO of Boulia Shire Council from 2008 to 2013; and for the last two years has been CEO of the Balonne Shire Council at St George.
Mr O’May and his partner recently moved back to the South Burnett.
Mr O’May has spent the last two weeks familiarising himself with Mr Taylor’s role and current projects the divisions he will oversee are working on.
