With Mr Gordon to start work in December and the mayoral election behind Council, at least for the next 12 months, Wingecarribee Council has the opportunity for a fresh start.

To those whose impressions of Council are formed from debate at the fortnightly ordinary meetings – which admittedly comprise only a fraction of the work that councillors do – it might appear that a large amount of this Council’s first year has been spent reviewing. Undoing - and in some cases redoing - the work of the previous four years.

Some have put a great deal of effort and time into distancing themselves from the previous Council or seeking to allocate blame.

Yes, there is unfinished business from the previous council – most importantly the review of processes which led to Council’s multi-million dollar investment losses.

But until the findings of an independent review into this issue are known, there seems to be little point in further finger pointing.

The new general manager has been appointed with the unanimous support of all nine councillors.

Hopefully, all councillors will now stop looking over their shoulders, start looking ahead and work with Mr Gordon and other Council staff to achieve a positive result for Wingecarribee ratepayers.