It is a position he will hold until further notice as Port Macquarie-Hastings Council recruits a new general manager to replace Craig Swift-McNair.

Mr Swift-McNair's last day as GM was June 23 after he resigned to take up an appointment as general manager at Sydney's Woollahra Municipal Council.

Mr Sharp's focus in the short term includes a continuation of the COVID-19 Recovery Working Group's planning, as well as council continuing to deliver a huge and varied amount of work.

The council's 2020/21 operational plan contains almost $85 million worth of capital works.

"We still have significant and ambitious programs, it's fair to say, even without what the governments are looking for, federal and state, for further stimulus," Mr Sharp said.

The council expects other projects will be fast tracked, through the COVID recovery work, to stimulate the economy.

Mr Sharp said the staff body continued to deliver.

"With the COVID impacts, we like many of the community have people working from home, there have been impacts on our community-facing services - the library, The Glasshouse, the airport - but by and large the majority of council services have continued," he said.

"We are well positioned, I think, to continue to do what's expected and deliver against the new operational plan because we've been able to maintain that workforce.

"I think most in the community would agree that things have continued to happen as they should where they could."

Construction work, the resealing program and water mains and renewals program are some examples.

"We've been able to keep employees and contractors employed and we've been quite productive in parts because there has been less traffic on the roads because of COVID itself," Mr Sharp said.

"We also recognise that clearly parts of our community are hurting, particularly after the bushfires into COVID, the tourism and hospitality industry has really been affected so we are working hard in those areas as well."

The council also remains active to help communities recover from the impacts of bushfires.

"I have certainly been amazed how resilient we are as a local community," Mr Sharp said.

"The COVID Recovery Working Group we've established has had great support from active community members.

"It's really heartening to see how many people are willing to put their hand up to help our community move forward out of this when we are ready to pounce but we shouldn't lose sight we also have bushfire recovery going on for many of our rural communities and that funding is being distributed."

Meanwhile, it is a turbulent time within the elected body.

Mayor Peta Pinson went public with bullying and harassment allegations in a mayoral minute at the June 3 council meeting, saying the council as an elected body had become a "warring faction".

A session with an external mediator for the councillors and mayor was set down for Thursday, June 25.

The state government has delayed council elections until September 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Sharp said the council staff would continue to work with the currently elected body up until the next council elections.

"I think the community has seen the council continues to make decisions, continues to support ongoing works," Mr Sharp said.

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