A NEW era is about to dawn at Inverclyde Council as chief executive John Mundell prepares to step down after a decade in the post.

He was brought in to shake up the local authority in March 2006 after it was criticised by financial watchdog Audit Scotland over the way it was being run.

A three-year deal was agreed, but the Edinburgh-born boss liked Inverclyde so much that he stayed on.

Now, at the age of 60, he feels it is time to hand over the baton to someone else to continue Inverclyde’s regeneration and the efforts to stabilise and increase the area’s population.

Mr Mundell, a civil engineer by profession, said: “The whole feel of the area is different from 10 years ago, and we’re working hard at encouraging interest through events like this year’s Powerboat Grand Prix in Greenock which was seen on TV around the world.

“I can vouch for the fact that anyone coming to Inverclyde will receive a really warm welcome. The people make it a very special place.

“Inverclyde is in a different league from other places in terms of the number of people who volunteer to be involved in community organisations and charities, for example.”

Mr Mundell is married with three grown-up sons and recently received the OBE for services to local government, where he has worked for 42 years, holding a number of senior posts at East Dunbartonshire Council, Central Regional Council, Lothian Regional Council and the City of Edinburgh Corporation.

His decade in Inverclyde has seen big changes in education through the building of new schools and upgrading others, major leisure investments and working in partnership with Riverside Inverclyde on various regeneration projects.

This has been achieved in the face of severe austerity challenges and a reduction in council staff from 5,200 to 4,200, some of whom left because of housing stock transfer which Mr Mundell said had seen huge strides in the quality of housing provided by River Clyde Homes and other associations.

He said: “I was excited about coming to Inverclyde because there was so much needing to be done. Relationships and the roles and responsibilities within the council had broken down to a degree.

“My job primarily was creating the right environment to help other people to perform. There were auditors and consultants all around the council. 

“I had to try to ease them out as quickly as I possibly could so that we could get the space to get on and get the job done.

“We were very much in the public eye, but I think that was the platform and the catalyst that has made the council what it is now. I think it’s an absolutely great council.

“We get plaudits when I’m out meeting my peers for the work that’s going on across the wide range of services being provided.

“Education has been a priority. I’m particularly proud of what we have achieved at the joint campus in Port Glasgow and getting the community to agree that was the right thing to do, bearing in mind the polarised views that existed previously. 

“It’s the biggest campus of its nature in Scotland.”

Mr Mundell also highlighted progress in the way ‘looked after’ children are cared for, and Inverclyde’s position as top of the Scottish recycling tree.

He added: “The biggest challenge facing the council is financial and it’s going to be difficult for the Scottish Government as well. 

“The performance of the economy and the tax-take nationally is an important factor in trying to protect services.”

Mr Mundell will leave the council next month with mixed feelings, and says he’ll take some time to consider what he will do next.

He said: “I’m not finished working yet but I will always consider Inverclyde to be my home as far as my career is concerned.”