Cobar businessman Michael Prince has been confirmed as the final councillor who will serve on the current term of Cobar Shire Council.

After only 11 candidates nominated for the 12 seats on council during last year's local government elections, a by-election was held on Saturday 26 February 2022 to decide the 12th seat.

Two people nominated for the role, newcomer Jesse Cochran - who moved to the area in 2019 - and the locally born and bred Mr Prince who previously served as a councillor for one term after the 1998 local government elections.

In the lead up to the election, 2810 eligible voters in the shire were sent postal voting forms and were also given the option to cast a vote during the early voting period.

According to the latest data released at 9am on Tuesday 15 March, 1452 postal votes (51.67 per cent) were returned while 387 (13.77 per cent) cast their vote early at pre-polling facilities.

On election day itself, polling places were Cobar High School and the Euabalong Community Centre with around 226 formal votes counted.

According to data last updated at 10am on Monday 14 March, of the 1989 formal votes counted, Mr Prince received an overwhelming 1537 votes compared to 452 votes issued for Mr Cochrane. 32 votes were ruled informal.

Just under 71.92% of eligible voters took part in the election.

Mr Prince was officially declared elected by the Returning Officer from the NSW Electoral Commission on Tuesday, 15 March.

In an article published earlier this year by the Western Plains App, Mr Prince indicated while the council had been doing a good job so far, there was still a lot of work to be done in the shire and he wanted to be part of making sure things continue to progress for the district.

Some areas of improvement he outlined at the time included improvements to roads, gutters and drainage in the town's industrial area, sourcing more doctors for Cobar and ensuring money was spent locally by FIFO workers at the local mine, which he said was the town's biggest challenge to overcome.

When asked why he had decided to stand for Cobar Shire Council this term, Mr Prince said he felt he now had the flexibility around his work commitments which were the main reason why he did not re-stand following his original term.

He said the amount of votes he received compared to Mr Cochrane still came in as a surprise, however he was looking forward to using his vast understanding of the shire as a major boon for the council.

"I was quite pleasantly surprised as the talk was that Cobar needed some youth on council," Mr Prince said.

"(However), sixty years of living in Cobar and 33 years in business makes me hope that I have a bit of an understanding of what’s required."

When asked for his thoughts on the latest addition to council, Acting Mayor of Cobar Shire Council Jarrod Marsden said he believed Mr Prince would fit in really well.

"Michael Prince is a guy with a lot of knowledge and experience - he's already a really successful local businessman, so I think he'll be awesome in council," Mr Marsden said.

"He has been a councillor before and has a wide variety of knowledge of both the farming and mining industries which will be really beneficial in Cobar Shire."

Mr Prince will have his first council meeting for the term next Thursday 24 March in the council chambers.