Toowoomba council planning general manager Nikola Stepanov named CEO of Tablelands Regional Council

Just weeks after Toowoomba council’s chief executive announced the end of his tenure, another top bureaucrat is leaving the organisation for another region.

TRC planning and development general manager Dr Nikola Stepanov.

One of the Toowoomba region’s top bureaucrats who was touted as a future chief executive is departing the council in a shock move just days before Christmas.

Popular and highly-respected council planning and development general manager Dr Nikola Stepanov has been announced as the new CEO of the Tablelands Regional Council near Cairns.

Her departure, effective from February, comes just weeks after it was revealed the council’s chief executive Brian Pidgeon would not seek a new contract. next year.

Dr Stepanov was appointed to her role at Toowoomba in late 2022 to replace Stewart Somers before kicking off a massive clean-out of personnel from a department that faced heavy scrutiny from both developers and the general public.

During her tenure, Dr Stepanov was ranked in the top 10 per cent of local government executives against nationwide benchmarks, scoring highly on key performance indicators like valuing employees, staff engagement and staff retention.

She was also seen favourably by the development sector, with industry sources praising her responsiveness and fair approach to a highly-controversial department of council.

In a statement, Tablelands mayor Rod Marti touted her achievements at the TRC as evidence for why she deserved the top job in the Far North.

“In her current role, she is credited by government, industry, business and community with reforming processes to be more effective and efficient, delivering value by providing certainty for investment and development, and encouraging good development in the community’s interests,” he said.

“With a strong and ethical people-focus, Dr Stepanov has a passion for bringing about meaningful and sustainable change, and has expertise in transforming workplace cultures to create happy and high-performing teams that deliver exceptional services to customers and the community.”

Dr Stepanov, who was previously the state’s integrity commissioner, was considered a potential successor to Mr Pidgeon by certain council insiders.

It is understood the Toowoomba Regional Council will release a statement on the decision.

Originally published as Toowoomba council planning general manager Nikola Stepanov named CEO of Tablelands Regional Council