Tauranga City Council has this afternoon confirmed Gareth Green will serve as its acting chief executive, one week after Marty Grenfell announced his resignation in the wake of a damning review that found the Mount Maunganui landslide tragedy was preventable.
Green, who currently serves as the manager of the Mayoral Office at the council, had previously served as the chief executive of the New Plymouth and Taupō district councils.
Grenfell announced his resignation on September 29. His last day was on October 2.
"We respect Mr Grenfell's decision and thank him for his unwavering commitment to public service in our city over the past eight years," Mayor Mahé Drysdale said at the time.
"During this time, Mr Grenfell has helped lead Tauranga City Council through periods of significant growth, change, and challenge. I thank him for his contribution and wish him all the very best for the future.”
Grenfell had faced calls to resign after a report by former High Court judge Paul Davison KC, released in August, said: "This tragedy was, in the end, preventable."
"For more than two decades, one competent consultant after another identified the landslide hazard to the campground, located it on the very slope that failed, and explained – sometimes in stark terms – what the consequences of a landslide occurring could be."
Six holidaymakers were killed in a slip at the council-owned Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park in January 22.
The Tauranga City Council said it would "commence a recruitment process to appoint a permanent chief executive".
"The mayor and councillors will consider next steps for the appointment process during a public excluded session at the council meeting on October 20, 2026."
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