"It's going to be a very busy week," Mr Jos? said.

The process calls for the three new leaders to be in place by February 1.

Both Cr Hogan and Mr Jos? confirmed it is a trying time for council, and particularly its employees as they continue to do "business as usual", albeit under great difficulty of not knowing who their future team leaders will be.

"There is a lot of angst among staff," Cr Hogan said. "But that is understandable with three main positions to be filled.

"The staff naturally have a lot of questions about what form the new structure will take. They are naturally concerned where they sit under the new structure."

Mr Jos? paid tribute to Mr Deer and Mr Blaze, who he said had both made "an enormous contribution" to the community.

"The effort they have made over many years cannot be understated," he added.

Cr Hogan said Greater Taree City Council sits on the verge of "big change" with the second stage of its Community Strategic Plan starting next Monday.

This will involve another round of public meetings over a period of about 10 days, with the community being invited to comment on a raft of issues including rate increases and works project priorities.

"We will be keeping the community informed and involved," Cr Hogan said. "We also need to let the community know that just because we are in a time of change, that council hasn't stopped working. It's business as usual right throughout the council."

He said he personally is pleased with the way council is working through its community strategic plan, with the first stage to date being highly successful.

"One of the biggest things is that we are looking for more community feedback," he said.

He admitted that in the past council had "kept too many things close to its chest".

"In the past there has been a culture of 'let's not put the whole story out there'," he said.

"This has been a pretty hard thing to break, but I for one, being a plumber, have always engaged with people... I like engaging with people... and this is what council should be doing."

He said he looked forward to being part of council's long-term journey of change and improvement.

When it adopted its Community Strategic Plan earlier this year, council committed itself to building a better future for the Manning Valley.

Its new corporate structure including appointment of the three new leaders is part of a move towards an organisational culture that is community focused, business minded and committed to quality service delivery.

It has committed itself to implementing new local government integrated planning frameworks, developing a long-term Community Plan, improving long-term financial planning and asset management capabilities and implementing Business Excellence principles.