Mayor John Forbes of the Opotiki District Council, in the Bay of Plenty.

Things are going so well for Opotiki, the district's mayor claims they don't need an election.

Mayor John Forbes has suggested Opotiki not take part in local body elections, although when asked if that should be for voters to decide, he said "democracy is incredibly important".

Forbes said the elections risked distracting the council during a critical phase in the district's development. Adding, elections often meant important work was placed on the back-burner.

"I strongly believe in democracy, I think it's really, really important," Forbes said. "But there's also an old adage: If something isn't broke don't fix it, and the council's functioning very well."

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He said council was working on major developments such as the twin-aquaculture projects, the sewerage upgrade, the growing kiwifruit industry and the fledgling manuka honey industry.

Opotiki District Council Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie was also working on a $200 million harbour development project with officials in Wellington.

He said the councillors were doing a "good job", and if they weren't he wouldn't be suggesting an unopposed election.

"I've got a council working really well, so lets just carry on working hard on what's good for our district.

"If I didn't think we were doing that, I would say we [council] should all put our hands up, either stand down or ask the community to elect again."

Forbes believed a council being re-elected unopposed had not happened anywhere else in New Zealand.

"I can't think of any other councils who would want to do what I'm suggesting here. But we're a small community, who know our council very well.

"When I talk to other mayors from around the country, a lot of them would like some change on their councils. A lot of mayors stand down because they feel they have had enough or not as good at the job as someone else might be.

"But I think in Opotiki we've got a neat little council that's working really hard and only working on one thing, and that's the future of this district and the betterment of the region and our nation."

The nomination period for this year's elections opens on July 15, and closes on August 12.

"There's always been a few people that have a crack at council, and that's great.

"Somebody's bound to put their hand up I would imagine, I was just putting it out there."