Council search for new planning, development head

Baw Baw Shire council is again searching for a director of planning and development.
Leanne Hurst submitted her resignation last week and will finish on January 5.
Ms Hurst, who joined Baw Baw from the City of Launceston in Tasmania two years ago, will become Director of Communities at Yarra Ranges council.
Shire chief executive officer Mark Dupe said an interim appointment to fill the planning and development director's role would be made later this month with a formal recruitment process to begin in January.
The new director will be the fourth in the position in three years.
Ms Hurst's predecessor James Reid resigned after nine months.
The planning department has been one of the most contentious areas of the shire's operations for several years with council ordering a review of its performance two years ago and the then mayor Danny Goss calling for the state government to second to Baw Baw three planners for a minimum of three months.
In announcing Ms Hurst's resignation Mr Dupe said during her two years with the shire Ms Hurst had reinvigorated internal planning systems, changed and uplifted planning performance and delivered more positive outcomes.
He said she had cleared a backlog in handling planning applications, improved processing times by 37 per cent, steadied staff turnover and refreshed the commitment to customer service outcomes.
Mr Dupe said Baw Baw's planning and development teams dealt with significant challenges stemming from the region's "extraordinary growth and development pressures".