Mr Smith is one of nine candidates running in north ward for the upcoming local government elections and admitted he felt it was time for a change in council.

"To be perfectly honest, it was just seeing how council had run over the last four years and deciding it was time that new councillors put their hand up," Mr Smith said on his motivation.

"It will give Dubbo the opportunity to have some choice.

"My focus as a businessperson was to get Dubbo Regional Council back on budget and back focused on the important things."

After purchasing Lazy River Estate earlier this year to go along with other investments, Mr Smith believes people often forget Dubbo Regional Council is a business and he is hoping to return the financial side of things back to normal.

"We're businesspeople so we look at everything analytically," he said.

"Council is no different but I know there are a lot of parts to council that are not profit making and need to be protected.

"Outside of that it still needs to be in line and in budget."

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Dubbo Regional Council would've reported a loss of $11 million had it not been for financial grants, a figure which was well in excess of the $7.5 deficit back in August 2020.

The majority of the deficit had been put down to the impact of COVID-19 enforced lockdowns over the last two years which has turned away tourists.

Away from the finance side of things, Mr Smith said there was a bigger reason as to why he decided to run for council.

"We're obviously an employer here in Dubbo," he said.

"We are looking at retaining staff and kids are getting to that age where we are looking at housing affordability.

"There's a bigger picture to why I want to be in there.

"But primarily it's about getting council back focused on what's important because the last few years it seems to have gone off the rails."

While he now resides at Lazy River Estate on Old Dubbo Road which is in the south ward, Mr Smith is a candidate in north ward.

"It was a difficult decision for me," he said.

"Because now I'm in south ward but I've only been here for six months.

"Primarily in the 14 years I've been in Dubbo probably a good 10 [years] of those have been in north ward.

"It's where I guess I understand the politics and issues of Dubbo best.

"It's where I felt I could probably be of most benefit."

Mr Smith is one of three independent candidates in north ward for the upcoming election along with the president of the Dubbo Chamber of Commerce Matt Wright and former mayor Greg Matthews.

Three groups will also be on the ballot paper in north ward.

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