While his tenure at Cessnock only made up about a fifth of his career in local government, Mr Glen's time in the city has involved some significant reforms.

He came on board in 2013 - in the wash-up of a lengthy and expensive Supreme Court battle and Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry over a power struggle between councillors and former general manager Lea Rosser.

"It was actually my second attempt to join council," Mr Glen said.

"I applied for the job Lea Rosser ended up getting.

"I was at Gosford Council at the time, but was keeping an eye on Cessnock.

"I was hearing these great stories about Cessnock, then all of a sudden the stories were not so great."

Mr Glen's general manager at Gosford heard there was an interim position coming up at Cessnock, and offered him leave without pay to apply.

"He either really wanted me to go or really supported me - I'm choosing to think it was the second," Mr Glen said.

Related: General manager predicts bright future for council

Mr Glen said at the time he started, relationships in Cessnock Council were fractured.

"We had to rebuild relationships between the councillors and the senior management team and between the senior management team and staff," he said.

"There were 22 outstanding planning proposals, we did those in 12 months. We had a turnaround of 100 days for development applications, we managed to half that."

Mr Glen mentions many other changes, such as cutting the amount of time allowed for residents to speak in public access, reducing the duration of council meetings, introducing new staff morning teas and staff service awards and creating pre-meetings for councillors as highlights.

But perhaps the biggest of all was when council was deemed 'Fit for the Future' in 2015 and avoided a merger with another council.

"We've come a long way, but there are still improvements to be made," he said.

Mr Glen said a big focus of this was improving communication with the community, through things such as media releases and social media.

But that hasn't always been an easy task, with many residents critical of council and its processes, particularly on Facebook.

"When you work in the public arena, you can't expect everybody to be blowing your trumpet," he said.

"You're never going to satisfy everybody.

"But we do have to recognise it, try to rectify the situation and then move on and try to be positive."

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Mr Glen started his council career as an engineer, coming from a family with a strong history of engineering.

He worked for Campbelltown and Willoughby Councils but also spent time at Alcan and in the mines, so said he has had a long love of the Hunter.

He worked his way up through the council system, and said he "thoroughly enjoyed every step".

But at 62, Mr Glen said it was now his time to step aside, handing in his notice in March.

"I feel council is in a really good position. It could be improved but it's better than when I started," he said.

"People say to me you must be really happy [to be leaving]. Part of me is happy but most of me is sad.

"I've always loved coming to work."

Mr Glen said he planned to return to the LGA frequently, having made many connections in the area. He also wanted to thank the community for their support in the past six years.

Council's corporate and community services director Robert Maginnity will fill in as interim general manager after Mr Glen finishes up on July 31. Council has a preferred candidate for the position and anticipates an announcement will be made shortly.