Controversial Mayor Ben Shields has resigned from his position at Dubbo Regional Council, ending weeks of pressure from councillors calling on him to step down.
His resignation as Mayor and as a Dubbo region councillor will take effect on Thursday.
Cr Shields said his decision to quit came after councillors voted to impose a series of conditions on his return from six weeks' medical leave.
Those restrictions included him not making phone calls without a council staff member present and that his correspondence had to be monitored by council staff.
"It is impossible for anyone to carry out the duties of mayor with such hard restrictions being in place," he said in a social media post.
Cr Shields' resignation came after weeks of calls for him to step down — first over his support of a Bunnings development, and then over allegations of inappropriate conduct against two former council workers.
He has denied all accusations made against him, saying "some councillors attacking me nearly every day with baseless accusations has led to my mental health significantly suffering".
Calls for his resignation began earlier this year when he held a press conference lauding a development application for a new Bunnings Warehouse on the day it had been submitted.
Deputy Mayor Stephen Lawrence and councillor John Ryan said it suggested the council had already approved the project when it had not even discussed it yet.
Cr Shields denied any wrongdoing relating to the Bunnings proposal, which has since been withdrawn by parent company Wesfarmers.
Tumultuous six weeks
On March 31, Mr Shields was admitted to hospital after a self-harm incident.
He spent six weeks away from work before returning shortly after councillors voted to strip him of his mayoral entitlements for the remainder of his time off.
"I am told by my doctors I will need a long period to recover," Cr Shields said while announcing his resignation.
In an interview with the ABC on May 12 — his first day back at work after being admitted to hospital — he called for Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock to step in and sack the council and appoint an administrator.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro at the time called on the Mayor to step down but said an administrator was a step too far.
At a recent council meeting, councillors unanimously voted to appoint an independent investigator to look at allegations of bullying and harassment within the council.
Those allegations of harassment included some against Cr Shields.
The ABC spoke with two people who allege improper conduct against Cr Shields in 2018 and 2019.
"It is curious that these baseless accusations have been made through the media and not through the official channels," he said at the time.
In that same meeting, councillors voted to appoint a new chief executive, a decision Cr Shields opposed.
In announcing his resignation, Mr Shields called allegations against him "laughable".
"The last few days I have been accused of so many things I've lost count," he said.
"I believe there is a level of nastiness within the councillor ranks that most people would find repugnant.
Pressure over zoo pipeline
Most recently, Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders said he received a phone call from Cr Shields in 2019 asking to be appointed to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo board.
Mr Saunders said Cr Shields planned to cease a cross-city water pipeline project to the zoo if he was not appointed.
"It goes to a pattern of behaviour that the mayor thinks he has the ability to influence things in whatever case it may be," Mr Saunders said.
Cr Shields denied the allegations, calling them "far fetched".
Cr Shields has been a councillor on Dubbo City Council, which became the Dubbo Regional Council, since 1999, being first elected at the age of 18 while still studying at high school.
"The office of mayor is extremely important for the growth and wellbeing of the entire Dubbo region," he said.
"The last 22 years as a councillor have been a roller coaster ride to say the least.
