Cr Betteridge, who has spent two terms on councils, also believes Greens candidate Amanda Cohn and Bert Eastoe will be part of the nine councillors elected and wouldn't rule out the No.3 on the Alice Glachan ticket, Vicki Gray, being successful.

The Dean Street trader said only Cr Glachan’s leadership as mayor prevented the previous council being sacked.

“This council has been a walk in the park,” he said.

“It hasn’t been overly contentious and has made some good decisions.

“The first council I was on was hard work and without the leadership Alice Glachan showed for three of those four years we could have easily finished up in administration.”

Cr Betteridge said the retirement of Cr Patricia Gould earlier this year would place many votes up for grabs at this election.

“Where are Patricia’s votes all going to go?” he said.

“She had the second highest number of votes last time behind Alice and Alice got two up.”

He said his overall experience on council was a positive.

“If you want to get involved in something, local government is a good thing,” he said.

“You get to meet people who are passionate about their community.

“I went into council thinking it could be pretty loose, but the reality is it is a very tightly run ship.”