After several years leading the Brewarrina Shire Council, Mayor Phillip O'Connor has decided not to stand for re-election in the upcoming local government elections.

Mr O'Connor has been a councillor on Brewarrina Council since 2012, becoming Deputy Mayor two and a half years after that and was eventually elected Mayor in 2016.

Mr O'Connor said he was initially encouraged to join the council by his family but also felt he brought a lot to the table.

"My mother told me for quite a while I should be Mayor of Brewarrina, so I listened to her as everyone should," Mr O'Connor said with a chuckle.

"However, I could also clearly see how it should be done and the changes that needed to be made (to the council)."

In his time with the council, Mr O'Connor said he believes Brewarrina has become one of the most proactive shires in the west.

"All the state government wants is to employ local people and do things the right way and I think we've done that really well," he said.

"I have no disrespect to past councils at all, but council should be run by the people through the councillors and general manager whereas there I've seen others where it's the other way around. That's not the way councils are meant to work."

When asked for any highlights from his time on council, Mr O'Connor said there were too many to mention, but he was very proud he was leaving the council better than he found it.

"I think I'm leaving a shined-up ship with plenty of money in the bank, solid local employment - 80 per cent of our staff are indigenous and no other council comes close to that - new machinery in the shire, our roads in good condition and millions of dollars due to come in from the government," he said.

"Just to see the town, roads and people in our shire so pleasant, it's sort of turned the whole show around and I feel like I've had a bit to do with that."

All these accomplishments in local government have taken their toll however, and while he acknowledged it had been a big decision and he had left down to the wire, Mr O'Connor has decided to take a step back and let someone else have their turn.

"I've got a lot of personal things I've been neglecting so I decided it was time - I'm definitely looking forward to spending more time with family and less time on the phone," he said.

"When you're the mayor, it never stops, and you find yourself busy from 5 in the morning to 12 at night. I haven't had a problem with that because that's what you sign up for, but I think it will be good to stop, for the people around me in addition to myself."

In addition to Mr O'Connor, Brewarrina Shire councillors Bill Loughnan and Dave Wheatley have also decided not to stand for re-election.

A total of 10 people, including current councillors and some new additions, nominated for the nine available council positions.

He said the main advice he would want to pass on to the new set of councillors elected next month was to remember to work collaboratively and to be prepared for a life in the public eye.

"I'm not saying they won't work well as a team but the biggest problem is if you end up with a council that is divided because it makes it so much harder to come to a decision," he said.

"Also, for all the new people (standing for council) across the west, if you haven't been a councillor before and think you can keep your life private, you can forget about that. Once you become a public figure, there's nothing sacred."