The appointment of highly regarded local government executive Larry Sengstock to the role of acting chief executive officer until June 2024 ensures it will be “business as usual” for Noosa Council and the community.
That’s the message from Mayor Clare Stewart and her fellow councillors, who unanimously supported a Mayoral Minute at Thursday’s Ordinary Meeting, following the resignation of current CEO Scott Waters to take up a role at Moreton Bay Regional Council.
“Larry’s experience and management style is a huge asset to council and he continues to play a critical role in delivering our biggest capital works program ever,” the Mayor said.
“The message is clear, it is firmly business as usual and we have the foundations to go forward, the drive to deliver and the ability to execute, and make no mistakes, we will execute,“ the mayor said.
“Scott worked closely with our executive team and managers and supervisors to implement an integral set of core values- SPARC.
“We have finalised and about to deliver the Corporate Plan and rebrand and most significantly through re-alignment of our organisation, Larry and the executive team have set us up to be an agile, customer focused and value centric organisation,” she said.
“This decision ensures the talented executive team can continue to deliver the transformational program Noosa 2.0 in liaison with councillors, as well as the Destination Management Plan, the 2023-24 Budget, Corporate Plan and initiatives form the Housing Strategy,” the Mayor said.
Mr Sengstock will be in the CEO chair to ensure stability and continuity of services with the quadrennial local government elections scheduled for mid-March 2024.
Before moving to Noosa, Mr Sengstock held senior roles at Latrobe City Council and delivered Victoria’s $57 million Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre and the $19 million transformation of Traralgon Sports Stadium.
He’s a former chief executive of Basketball Australia, head of sport and operations for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and is a four-time Olympian who played more than 290 games for Australia.
Larry’s business resume packs a punch, including a Master of Business Administration from Victoria University, Bachelor of Applied Science and Physical Education and a Diploma of Education. He’s also filled the CEO role for four months, awaiting Mr Water’s arrival.
“We are fortunate to have such an experienced leader in Larry who knows Noosa and is well-respected by staff and council’s leadership team,’ Cr Stewart said.
“Larry worked closely with Scott on a range of projects and he along with the executive team was instrumental in the implementation of the corporate values and leadership program,” she said.
“Teamwork is an important ingredient in success and that’s how I approach my senior management roles,” Mr Sengstock said.
“This council continues to deliver its largest ever capital works program, plus flood damage work totaling $80 million and so many other daily services,
“It really is business as usual, thanks largely to our skilled and dedicated staff,” Mr Sengstock said.
Mayor Stewart said council was no stranger to handling challenges.
“This council has faced tough times before. The first ever budget we faced as we came into council was a deficit budget- the first in 20 years- add to that a global pandemic, a workforce that has predominantly been displaced because of such, catastrophic weather events, record inflation and record interest rates we have come through for our community. We do it time and time again. We deliver. Today is no different,” she said.
“As Mayor, I’m proud to lead this organisation but I am aware that we are only as good as the people around us.
“We have great people around us and the councillors and I are acutely aware of that.”
Mr Sengstock added “We have a strong management plan in place and are all focused on delivering a high standard of service to our community.”
