Harden Shire Council’s General Manager Max Kershaw will bring to a close a career in local government spanning some 42 years at the end of November. 21 of those years have been spent in the role of General Manager.

He said that every council he has worked in has been in rural NSW including Parkes, Yallaroi, Gunnedah, Warren, Narrabri and for the last five years Harden.

During his time in local government he has worked at two councils who have received Bluett Awards. The A R Bluett Memorial Award is contested each year by councils in NSW who enter to be recognised as being the most progressive in the state. Entry is open to all NSW councils irrespective of size or resources. Max was a part of Warren Council in 1995 and Gunnedah in 1989, when they won.

Max said that he has enjoyed being apart of the communities he has lived and worked in and has been involved on hospital boards, Apex and Rotary. He has also been a state board member of the NSW soccer federation between 2005 and 2010. One of Max’s proudest achievements has been representing Australia in correspondence chess for the last two decades.

When asked about his work as the General Manager he said, “I concentrated on revitalising the Council when I began here, we should all be proud of the streetscape and I have enjoyed working with the community and the work done with the village Progress Associations of Galong, Wombat and Jugiong. We are getting closer to the reopening of the Demondrille rail line and it’s great to see a business such as Pepes’ come to the shire.”

“It is great to see the number of local doctors increase and we are beginning to establish a multipurpose service for our health facilities. My greatest satisfaction has been seeing 20 local kids from the area go through traineeships and apprenticeships under the guidance of the council.”

“We also worked hard on reducing the average time for development applications to be handled by the council from 50 days down to 15. Whilst performing my role as the General Manager, the Shire underwent 4 natural disasters which highlighted the resilience of the community. ”

“I have been part of a great team here in Harden, both Councillors and Council staff, and Sharne has been involved in many local community groups such as View, St. Lawrence’s and Can Assist.”

“As Sharne and I move to retirement we extend our best wishes for Harden’s continuing future growth and success.” Max said, “It has be a privilege to have been General Manager with this Council and I do thank everyone for their support during our time in Harden - Sharne and I have enjoyed our time here and the decision has been a very hard one to make.”