Mr Mileto said no legislation prevented him from holding both positions, but he did not believe it was appropriate.

“I am a firm believer that there is a community expectation that all councillors who are elected, do so honestly, impartially, with integrity and without any obvious conflict of interest, whether those apparent conflicts are real or apparent,” he said. 

“Whilst I understand that councillors may sometimes maybe placed in a position where a conflict of interest could arise, I personally don’t want to be excluded from any such important discussions that occur during council meeting.”

Mr Mileto said the community needed to have confidence in the people they elected to the council.

“Whilst I am not a real estate agent or a property developer, I am a councillor who intends to serve the communities best interests in a professional manner,” he said.

Colin Young has taken on the president’s role and will be the group’s spokesperson going forward.

Mr Mileto said he would remain a member, but he would not be making any public statements on behalf of ORRA in the future and all fellow councillors and residents were welcome to join.