The Shire of Coolgardie has shortlisted candidates for its chief executive position and remains largely on track to have someone locked into the position by the end of August, according to president Paul Wilcox.

Cr Wilcox confirmed the recruitment panel had shortlisted a few applicants and would be interviewing those candidates next week.

He said there was a wide range of candidates who applied for the position, including, from his perspective, some “very good” ones.

Once interviews are complete, the recruitment panel — which consists of five councillors and one independent person — will decide whether further interviews are required before a decision is made.

A selection report will then go to council for consideration and endorsement.

“The original timeframe we were looking at was end of August sometime, and I think we’re still pretty much tracking towards that,” Cr Wilcox said.

“We’ve allowed time for if a senior executive needs to give three months’ notice, but some individuals are more flexible than others, so it really just depends on the person.

“That’s why we extended our acting CEO contract to allow for that extra space . . . just in case things fall over or need renegotiating or that sort of thing.”