Since October, Mr Avery has been overseeing the Queenstown Lakes District Council's (QLDC) planning department for three days a week, after the resignation of Marc Bretherton.
In a statement yesterday, the council said he would become the general manager planning and development from February 22.
"His appointment follows an external recruitment process,'' the statement said.
Mr Avery spent 15 years working for the Dunedin City Council in various roles.
He quit the council in 2014, in the wake of the Citifleet scandal, despite having no knowledge of the $1.5million fraud.
Mr Avery's QLDC appointment comes during a turbulent few years of restructuring and resignations.
Last month, the council announced it had appointed former Christchurch City Council planning manager Mike Theelen as its new chief executive, following the resignation in November of incumbent Adam Feeley.
• Kevin "KJ'' Jennings, executive manager of Film Otago Southland, based in Queenstown, has been elected chairman of the Association of Film Commissioners International.
Mr Jennings was previously the organisation's vice-president. He said he would continue to fit the international work around his Film Otago Southland role.
The position would have spin-offs for the local and national film and television production industry, through his interaction with sen-ior members of the international film and television industries.
