Ms Macleod (54) was notably absent from the list of councillors seeking re-election, but told the Otago Daily Times back in May she had "given it a good go" and was looking forward to a break.
"It's been great and I have enjoyed it for the most part, but it's not an easy job because you have always got opposing sides."
An architect, she had always had an interest in the visual landscape and had helped establish the urban design panel, but listed her proudest achievement as saving the One Mile Powerhouse from demolition at her first council meeting.
"I have probably never reached those dizzy heights again, because I'm very proud of that restoration."
She was involved in influencing Queenstown's urban townscape, including the Brecon St steps, as well as the Jacks Point development, and was the founding councillor on the Wakatipu Trails Trust.
Looking forward, Ms Macleod said one of the most important issue facing councillors would be protecting the landscape.
"Can we protect the golden goose?
"I'm not sure [and] that's my continued concern.
"It's a visual place that we're in and it's very important to preserve that.
"I'm really hoping someone will come forward that has that position ... [and] if I really feel as though the town is not working, I can always stand again."
Ms Macleod said after nine years serving the community she was "looking forward to a break", working "one or two jobs instead of four or five".
"I like to do a couple of jobs well ... I feel like I'm far too diluted ... it feels like a full-time job - you never let it go."
Ms Macleod has nominated Ange van der Laan to stand for the Arrowtown ward of the council - existing Arrowtown ward representative John R. Wilson is not seeking re-election.
After being the Arrowtown voice on the QLDC for the past six years, Mr Wilson (61) decided about six months ago to stand down, primarily because of health reasons.
Of his time on the council, Mr Wilson said he was most proud of the work done with the historic Buckingham St cottages, getting them back into council ownership and restored.
Arrowtown, in particular, would be facing several major issues in the future and needed a strong voice on the council, he said.
"In Arrowtown we've been very lucky to have Lex [Perkins], John [Mann] and myself - it's been like a little Arrowtown voting bloc.
"Whenever Arrowtown comes up, we've got our heads together ... in that case Arrowtown has punched above its weight.
"The Arrowtown boundary is rumbling around in the RMA [Resource Management Act] machinery and it's probably likely to take a while yet ... but I think the district as a whole should be more environmentally minded in terms of its attitude to development.
"I think we're still building way too many houses out in the countryside ... if we keep doing that we're going to wake up one day and think `how did that happen?"'
While Mr Wilson was impressed by the quality of nominees standing for the Arrowtown ward this year, he was backing Cr Perkins - whom he had nominated to stand for Arrowtown in his place.
Cr Perkins (70) said he was excited about standing for the Arrowtown ward, where there had been no need for an election for about nine years.
Lakes District Museum director David Clark stood unopposed in 2001 and Mr Wilson stood unopposed in both 2004 and 2007.
