“I want to see the City of Launceston recognised as a best practice council within the sector nationally. I think we have a lot of good people, a lot of good things happening in Launceston and one of my goals will be to leverage that and see it enhanced.

“I will also focus a lot on the cultural development of the organisation and how we work together and making sure we’re an organisation that’s capable of delivering the strategic agenda that we have got before us.”

While there are a number of major projects on the go, including the UTAS relocation and the North Bank redevelopment, there is one that Mr Stretton is “really excited” about.

“City Heart is an interesting one because I was there at Launceston when that initiated and I have had a break and obviously they have made good strides so far and I can come in and finish that project.”

Business improvement is a key focus with lean process to be initiated to ensure Launceston was an efficient council.

A drive for improving operations led to some of Mr Stretton’s proudest achievements.

“The financial performance of the [Waratah-Wynyard] council and the strategic performance where we are situated now is something I am really proud of.

“We’ve gone from an operational deficit in the millions when I took over, to returning a surplus in the current budget and that’s taken a lot of work on behalf of the management team and myself.”

The Sustainable Murchison Community Plan that was developed within the sub-region between councils to discover a long-term direction was also a major success, he said.

“On the ground I think the approval of the Table Cape development just this week is the end of a long process of working with the developers on the proposal … and also the $2 million upgrade of the Somerset CBD which is approaching its conclusion.”