Cr Miller, a former mayor of Orange, stunned fellow councillors at Thursday night's general meeting in tendering his resignation, citing a new business, family and health reasons and an increasing frustration with the current direction of council as reasons for his decision.

"It was certainly emotional. It wasn't an easy decision. It was a lot of agony in the last few days thinking about whether I'm doing the right thing or not," he said.

"I've resigned on business reasons. I think those are legitimate reasons to resign. If I was to stay on council I believe it would have an adverse affect on my new business.

"I've been here for 12 years and I'm very proud of what we've been able to achieve as a team in that 12 years. I was fortunate enough to be able to lead that team for 18 months. In that 18 months we achieved a heck of a lot to benefit the city of Orange – the Northern Distributor happened while I was the mayor of Orange."

Cr Miller said he had grown disenchanted with the current direction of council, imploring fellow councillors to brush aside personal agendas and egos in making decisions.

"It has been a frustrating time because what has happened in the last 12-18 months has been that personalities have got in the road of making effective council decisions. I encourage councillors to forget about their personal differences and to make every decision they make based on what is best for the interests for the community. I believe I've done that and they should do the same," he said.

Orange Mayor John Davis paid tribute to his predecessor, saying: "John has always had the community's best interests at heart and the straightforward and honourable way he dealt with issues will be sorely missed. He was a passionate advocate for what is good for Orange and was never distracted from that objective."

Council's general manager Garry Styles said Cr Miller had a rare empathy for council staff, something the outgoing councillor pointed to as a highlight over the past 12 years.

"A lot of councillors don't seem to realise that the staff are essentially working for them, working for the city the same as the councillors are. They're the experts," he said.

Cr Miller conceded he had held a dream to be the mayor again but said his new business would have made it impossible to fulfil the role.

And as for a comeback in the future?

"You never know, you never know," he said.

Cr Miller plans to start a weekly newspaper.