The mayor of Triabunna on Tasmania's east coast is being urged to resign after he labelled the town "ugly" and some of its residents "the most bogan of bogans".

Glamorgan Spring Bay Mayor Bertrand Cadart was quoted in an article in the latest edition of The Monthly about the Triabunna woodchip mill.

The Monthly article, which focused on the transformation of the closed Triabunna woodchip mill into a tourist development, looked at the challenges for the region and the state's economies after the fall of Tasmania's woodchip industry.

He was also quoted as saying Triabunna had extraordinary scenery it was wasting.

"The people here, they are too disparate, from the most bogan of bogans ... to the greenest pains in the arse," he said.

"Take Triabunna. It is an ugly spot. Not because it's ugly intrinsically, but because it's populated by people who have no concept of aesthetics."

He said the area could be the Riviera of Tasmania.

Mr Cadart's predecessor, Howard Harris, described the comments as "unbelievable".

"If he's got any nous or any decency he'll resign" he said.

Glamorgan Spring Bay councillor Jenny Woods said there was majority support among councillors for the mayor to step down.

But she said that did not mean he would do so.

"We've got a council of nine, we need five for a majority," she said.

"We've got five councillors who are going to ask for his resignation.

"But he doesn't have to under the [Local Government] Act, he doesn't have to on our say-so because we as councillors didn't vote him in.

"The people of the municipality of Glamorgan Spring Bay did."

Miriam Scurrah, the editor of the local newspaper, was appalled.

"He should be either forced to resign or do the right thing and resign himself," she said.

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"The level of arrogance that this man believes that he is better than others - I think that we employ the Mayor to be a spokesperson and an ambassador of our area and he is just making a mockery out of us."

Cadart refuses to stand down

Council members had been keeping mum about the mayor's comments, but Councillor Richard Parker broke ranks to talk to the ABC

Mr Parker said fellow councillor's he'd spoken with were upset.

"I was just absolutely furious. I've struggled all morning to cope with what's going on," he said.

Triabunna residents 'outraged' over mayor's comments labelling them the 'most bogan of bogans'

"If that's the way the Mayor feels about our area... if he's not happy with the way it is pack, your bags, go back to France.

"Those that have been very close to the mayor have felt betrayed."

The Mayor now faces a vote of no confidence at a special council meeting next week.

Cr Parker said he thought the vote would have the numbers.

"I like the rest of the councillors will be supporting a motion of no confidence in the Mayor," he said.

Cr Cadart said that while he was sorry for offending people, he would not stand down.

"I don't think I've done anything wrong as far as the Local Government Act is concerned," he said.

He said he always worked hard to deal with the downturn of the forest industry in the region.

What is a bogan? Roz Rowen is a Griffith University academic studying the origins of the term bogan, and while it might be a stretch to believe, she says the origin of the word has its roots in the verses of Banjo Paterson's poetry. "If we go way, way back, Banjo Paterson first used it in his poems. We've got the town Bogan and the Bogan River and that's [how] a lot of his poems used the word," she said. "It’s undergone this evolution since then." Forget the bevans and the westies, Ms Rowen says the word bogan has expanded to become an all-encompassing term, rather than the "pigeon-holed stereotypical definition" once used. "It used to be Commodore-driving, flannelette-wearing, mullet-donning person but now it can be anything," she said. "It can be Southern Cross tattoo-wearing, cigarette-smoking ... it's very broad." "It's about the way people act and behave. A bogan acts out of context to the stereotypically good person. They're a bit rough around the edges ... they're quite vulgar in their language ... they look different to other people."

On Wednesday afternoon he sought to clarify his comments.

"Triabunna has... until recently... been an industrial town. Industrial towns are not pretty, are not dainty. It's not a criticism that I put towards the people of Triabunna; it's just Triabunna was an industrial town."

Cr Cadart said he did not understand the context of the interview for the article.

He said he was supporting the buyer of the closed woodchip site to redevelop it to boost the local economy, and was not concerned about the buyer's politics.

"I care about my region ... I was trying to convince him not to let the site go to the weeds," he said.

"I am the Mayor of a region that is in a deep, deep crisis ... [I said to him] help us to do something new with this site."

Cr Cadart said Tasmania was made up of very disparate groups and he used the word "bogan" and "ugly" in reference to some groups around the state.

"I am yet to find a common Tasmanian spirit, so this does not apply specifically to Triabunna," he said.

He said some people in Triabunna were against whatever new plan was proposed for the closed woodchip mill site, and they were opposed to any new visions.