The Mayors and Deputy Mayors for the Bourke, Cobar, and Narromine Shire Councils have been officially voted in after limited nominations for council seats meant that they didn’t need to partake in elections. 

In today’s (Friday 10 December) council meeting at Bourke, Mayor of the previous term of councillors Barry Hollman was once again voted in as mayor for a two-year term. 

The meeting began with both Mr Hollman and fellow councillor Robert Stutsel nominated for Mayor, Mr Stutsel withdrew his nomination just seconds before the vote, leaving Mr Hollman uncontested for the position.

Following his re-election, Mayor Hollman said he was excited to see what the next term would bring for the Bourke Shire Council. 

“We created a lot of things for our town last year and we’re hoping we can do the same this year,” he said. 

His agenda for the coming term includes improvements to water management and major upgrades to the Wanaaring Road.

Councillor Lachlan Ford was then voted in as Bourke’s Deputy Mayor for another term. 

Further south, Narromine held their Mayoral elections in a council meeting earlier this week, which saw the return of Craig Davies for another term as Mayor. The position was uncontested. 

“It’s very satisfying and very comforting to know that I’ve got the support and confidence of my fellow councillors to spend another two years as Mayor - it’s a very satisfying and exciting job, so I’m thrilled,” Mayor Davies said. 

Locally, Mr Davies' priorities for the town include improvements to water drainage and sewerage systems throughout the community, as well as improving roads around the shire. He said cutting red tape to get the job done was also high on his priority list.

“We’ve been trying to get a levee bank in Narromine for some time now, and the process that you need to go through to get there is just glacial speed. I’ve been watching things happen here that should take six months take three or four years,” he said. 

Councillor Dawn Collins was then elected as Narromine Shire Council's Deputy Mayor following an uncontested nomination. 

Finally, in Cobar, Mayor of the previous council Peter Abbott also reclaimed his seat for a second term without contest, after being promoted from his role as Deputy Mayor last year following the retirement of the since passed Lilliane Brady. 

The position of Deputy Mayor was also uncontested and will be filled by Councillor Jarrod Marsden.

Mr Abbot said his focus for the coming term will be set on the local mine sites, where additional water and electricity is needed for them to run at full capacity.

“We got eight of the original counsellors back, all good people, plus the three new ones look fairly top quality as well,” Mayor Abbott said. 

While Narromine, Cobar, and Bourke can now get back to having fully-functioning councils, each of them already having held their first council meeting of the term, other communities across the Western Plains are eagerly awaiting the announcements of their new councils following the recent Local Government Elections on Saturday 4 December.

While the votes are still being counted, all the new councils are expected to be announced on Tuesday 22 December.