"That is also a big project the council wants to see go ahead," Mr Mcleod said.
He started work at the council in January 2008 after working as the director of corporate and civic services at Waitakere City Council.
A restructure of council's management and staff followed, which is only just coming to an end this year. A company was introduced to operate the Hawke's Bay Opera House, a new management structure set in place for Splash Plant and the Windsor Park holiday park was sold to a private operator.
All three facilities had been a burden on ratepayers but the changes introduced had paid off. The opera house is now operating in the black, after a $12 million makeover, the once ailing Splash Planet is starting to pay its way and the council still receives an income as the land owner of the holiday park business.
"The planned reorganisation of the council is coming to an end but there will always be minor tweaking as we go forward," Mr McLeod said.
"You never sit back on your laurels, things are never the same and you need to adapt to the needs of the council and the community," he said.
Mr McLeod's former Waitakere council was a leader in sustainability. And while Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule signalled sustainability as the number one priority at his 2007 post-election speech, it was questionable whether the district had made any significant changes in this direction.
"This council was signalling a sustainable development approach when I arrived, it had also been a matter of public discussion," Mr McLeod said.
"The council has set that as part of its policy direction and certainly it's been used in the HPUDS (Heretaunga Plains Urban Development Strategy) which looks at urban design, all based on that wider sustainability approach.
"I think we are likely to see more of it come through, via the likes of Landmarks, through its strong public art works, the design of the city's streetscape, iWay walking and cycling network, these are all things demonstrating sustainability in action."
In the public sector, mayoral and councillor pay rates have been in the headlines recently, as have the salaries of council CEOs. Mr McLeod's pay packet was $276,000 for the current financial year.
"In the public sector there is an expectation of greater transparency and rightly so because it is public money and there needs to be strong respect for that. Your ethics should be based on that," Mr McLeod said.
"Sometimes that's where people get themselves into a bit of strife because they don't keep that in the forefront of their minds," he said.
Mr McLeod said there were about 39 different business areas the council operated in, roads, transport and water networks, for example.
"All of these areas are fundamental to the economic activity of the district and the well being of the community. You see horror stories of mismanagement where the emphasis has been put on a couple of things, where the focus has been on conformance rather than performance.
"The council expects me to deliver on all 39 activities, it wants them all performing well, not just a few of them," he said.
Mr Mcleod, originally from Bay of Plenty, said his family had settled in well to Hawke's Bay life and a recent trip back to visit family in Auckland had confirmed the decision to move five years ago was the right one. "The length of time to do anything in Auckland is long and so we decided we didn't miss that at all. This morning I was able to go to a meeting at 7.30am across the other side of Hastings in four minutes. In Auckland, I'd still be waiting in traffic," he said.