Glenn Wilcox officially started as the general manager on Monday, with his first priority being to build a relationship with the community.

“At the present I need to put myself out there and show the community I don’t have two heads,” Mr Wilcox joked.

“If I just sit in my office and not talk to the community, I am not doing my job,” he said.

Mayor Laurie Bishop said the controversy surrounding Council over the past few months was “all behind us” and believed Mr Wilcox would bring stability through his role. 

The saga began in January when the then general manager Shane Burns was shown the door by Cr Bishop, eight months before his contract expired.

Cr Bishop stressed the agreement with Mr Wilcox would be honoured. 

“This general manager is here for the long haul. He is on a five year contract,” he said.

Mr Wilcox said he was still getting his head around the major issues affecting Council and was not going to pre-empt any decision.

“It will take a fair bit of time,” Mr Wilcox said on Monday.

“I have been in the position four hours now and my priority is to get out there and speak to the community.”

He said he would also seek to build on the cooperation between Armidale Dumaresq and its neighbouring councils.

Meanwhile with the mayoral elections on the horizon mayor Laurie Bishop has officially thrown his hat in the ring.

“There is a lot of work still to be done and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with Glenn to do that,” he said.