Councillors Jess Jennings, Jacqui Rudge and John Fry lodged a notice of motion on Monday, to be dealt with at an extraordinary meeting of council, in light of the allegations that the then mayor was involved in an attempt to blackmail Cr Rudge.

The letter she received in March 2020 is under investigation by NSW Police.

Cr Bourke has said the allegations against him of bullying and threatening are "wholly denied".

READ MORE: Mayor Bobby Bourke resigns following TV program's allegations of bullying

Specifically, the notice of motion calls for a resolution that the council "no longer has confidence in Mr Bobby Bourke as a sitting councillor and calls for Mr Bourke to resign immediately until the investigation is resolved".

It also wants council to ensure that any councillor conflicts of interest, perceived or actual, are declared and, if there are any found to exist, the councillor should act by "absenting themselves from council business as per council's Code of Conduct until the NSW Police investigation is resolved".

Councillors Jennings, Rudge and Fry want the notice of motion to be determined prior to the mayoral election.

Regarding Cr Bourke, Cr Jennings said that stepping down as mayor on Friday afternoon was not enough.

"You can't have those level of allegations over your head and think that it's okay to be receiving ratepayers' money," he said.

Cr Bourke said he has no intention of resigning as a councillor.

He said he felt that he did the right thing by stepping down as mayor.

He still intends to run for re-election in September and said he has a ticket ready.

"It's those couple of councillors who wanted to be mayor and deputy mayor, their jealousy and bitterness has divided this council," Cr Bourke said.

"... I'll let the community decide if I should be on council, not those three or so other councillors."

On Monday, councillors Warren Aubin and Graeme Hanger said they weren't at this time prepared to support the notice of motion.

"It's fine to do all these notices of motion, but it is an ongoing police investigation," Cr Aubin said.

"The law says innocent until proven guilty. He has stepped down from the mayoral role. When anything further comes out from the police investigation, we can deal with it then."

Acting mayor Ian North said he received the details of the notice of motion on Monday afternoon.

"I'll sit down and consider that. As they've done the due process, I need to enact in that with the meeting that has been requested. I've got to sit down and have a think about it; it wasn't long ago I was advised of it," he said.

He said a date for the extraordinary meeting has yet to be determined, but further discussion was to occur Monday afternoon with council's general manager.

His hope is to be able to announce a date on Tuesday.

THE man who holds the title of the equal longest serving deputy mayor in Bathurst council history is poised to become the city's next mayor.

Cr North confirmed on Monday that he will put his name forward for the upcoming mayoral election, saying his "experience on the ground" was the reason behind his decision to run.

"I think it's important to have the stability there, i.e. the deputy mayor moving up to the mayoral position," he said.

He already has a number of councillors in his corner, including the man he would be replacing.

"I'll be supporting the deputy. I've done that with all the deputies in my time and I won't change from that," Cr Bourke said.

Councillors Aubin and Alex Christian have also said they would vote for Cr North.

"He's obviously the deputy mayor and I think it's only appropriate that the deputy mayor, in times of uncertainty, steps up," Cr Christian said. "He has something like 17 years' experience in the chamber. I think he's the person to help steady the ship."

The Western Advocate was unable to get in contact with Cr Monica Morse on Monday, but according to Cr North, she has placed her support behind him.

"I credit Cr Morse, she rang me [on Sunday] to say she was supporting me, which is wonderful," he said.

"I hadn't even got to her, and other councillors have contacted me and said they were supporting me, but Cr Morse was the first one to say she felt I would be the ideal person to do the job and I really thanked her for that.

"We've had a long relationship and a good relationship, and it meant a lot to me coming from Cr Morse. Many years ago I was actually her deputy and helped her get appointed [to mayor], so it was very, very nice of her to say those nice words."

It is unclear at this stage whether or not he will have any competition.

Cr Jennings said he is still considering whether or not to run for mayor.

Cr Hanger has not ruled out another stint as mayor, but said he didn't believe he had the numbers to be elected at the moment.

Cr Rudge said she didn't know who she would be prepared to support, but ruled out a mayoral run for herself.

Similarly, John Fry said that, as he isn't seeking re-election to council, he would not be running for mayor.

He didn't rule out supporting Cr North, but said: "It depends on who else puts their hands up. I'm undecided at this point."

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