The revolving door at the Queenstown Lakes District Council just moved a little faster.
District plan manager Matthew Paetz handed in his notice this week, the latest in a string of high-profile departures in recent years, including half a dozen top managers and numerous seniors.
Mr Paetz said a combination of a ''great professional opportunity'' in Auckland and compelling family and personal reasons prompted the move.
But his departure has caused one councillor to break ranks and state she has serious concerns about staff turnover.
Cath Gilmour said she was ''particularly gutted'' at Mr Paetz' resignation.
''He was a fabulous policy brain in terms of getting our district plan under way.
''We'll miss him. He was integral to such a massive undertaking as the district plan review.''
Asked whether the inability to retain top staff was causing a crisis at council, Cr Gilmour said, ''It's a big word, `crisis'.
''It's certainly a serious concern. There's been some discussions [among councillors] but I can't speak for others.''
Experienced operators such as transport boss Denis Mander, planning boss Marc Bretherton and building services manager Peter Laurenson have all jumped ship - or resigned - in recent months.
Mr Paetz is another to leave the planning department.
Councillors Simon Stamers-Smith and Mel Gazzard said good staff were head-hunted by other organisations, so resignations were par for the course.
Deputy mayor Lyal Cocks - a mayoral candidate at next year's elections - said, ''It's disappointing and disruptive but these things happen.''
Mr Paetz leaves in late January after the review of 837 submissions on the district plan, just before hearings for which he will help plan.
He said he was confident the team left behind could handle the process.
Resource consenting manager Blair Devlin has been appointed acting policy manager. Council chief executive Adam Feeley said it was disappointing to lose Mr Paetz, who made a ''great contribution''.
''The national property market, district plan reviews nationally, and the Christchurch rebuild are all having an effect on retaining planning, building and engineering staff.''
The council had been receiving high-quality applicants for recent jobs, he said. - Mountain Scene
