Coonamble Shire Council General Manager Paul Gallagher is retiring after serving just over two years in the top job.

Councillors voted at an extraordinary evening meeting last night, Tuesday 3 June, to accept Mr Gallagher' resignation, cutting short his five-year contract.

The council's Director of Corporate Services, Bruce Quarmby, will fill in as Acting GM while recruitment for an interim general manager, and a permanent replacement is underway.

"Council wishes Mr Gallagher and family the best in retirement and thanks him for his contributions to the community of Coonamble Shire in the years that he served in the role," a council spokesperson said.

Originally from Newcastle, Mr Gallagher officially took the wheel at Coonamble on 5 February 2023.

Before then, he was working at Uralla Shire Council after leaving his previous role at Nambucca shire, where he had spent 12 years as Assistant General Manager of Engineering Services.

He lived in Coonamble with his family for five years until 2000, when he was Deputy Director of Engineering.

During his time as GM, he oversaw the council's controversial purchase of Coonamble's Sons of the Soil Hotel.

Other major projects, including a residential development, the Tooraweenah Road upgrade and the district's first crisis accommodation for domestic violence victims are still in the pre-construction stages.