QLDC acting chief executive Meaghan Miller said today that staff were "deeply saddened by the loss of a special colleague and, for many, a true mate".
Mr Hansby, the council's general manager property and infrastructure, was known as a passionate advocate for the Queenstown district during a 35-year career in engineering and infrastructure.
Through his career Mr Hansby had been a contractor, a consultant and a client within the infrastructure environment, the QLDC said.
He held a number of roles with the QLDC from 1994 to 2004, including consents engineer and roading engineer. He was a Civil Defence local controller and a valued part of the team that responded to the 1999 floods.
"Pete was a tireless campaigner for improving the way people lived, worked, travelled and played in the district and was a key member of the Kā Huanui a Tāhuna Project Alliance Board.
"He was an enormously respected and valued member of the QLDC executive leadership team.
“If there is one small comfort we can all take from Pete’s loss, it is that his legacy can be seen right around the district in the multitude of projects he was very proud to deliver.
"He was passionate about his work, passionate about the Queenstown Lakes District and enormously proud of his family,” Ms Miller said.
In 2004, Mr Hansby worked for City Care Ltd for Christchurch City Council and became the Southern Regional general manager.
He was appointed emergency response manager for City Care following the damaging 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in Canterbury - a period in his career he recently said prepared him for any future challenge no matter how big.
Mr Hansby took on a short but critical stint with Aecom as director of the Christchurch Rebuild in 2013 and started his latest role back with QLDC in November 2014 as general manager infrastructure, extending his responsibility to later becoming general manager property and infrastructure.
