← Gilgandra Shire Council
Mayor & councillors

Mayor & councillors

Gilgandra Shire is an undivided (at-large) council: its nine councillors are elected across the whole local government area by proportional representation, rather than by ward. The councillors elect the Mayor and Deputy Mayor from among themselves (Gilgandra does not have a popularly elected mayor); each is elected for a two-year term. At the first meeting of the current term, on 8 October 2024, Cr Doug Batten was the only nomination for Mayor and was declared elected, and Cr Ashley Walker was declared Deputy Mayor. Cr Walker resigned in October 2025 after 13 years on council; his seat was filled by countback rather than a by-election, and Cr Nick White was elected Deputy Mayor at the December 2025 meeting. Below is who currently holds office, with links to their official profiles and the September 2024 election results.

New to these terms? Read them in plain English
How the mayor is chosen
Either elected directly by voters, or chosen by the councillors.
Ward
A subdivision of a council area that elects its own councillors.
Local Government Area (LGA)
The official area a council governs.
NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC)
Runs council elections and publishes the official results.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

Who represents you

Mayor
Cr Doug Batten (Independent)Elected Mayor unopposed by the councillors at the extraordinary meeting of 8 October 2024, for a two-year term. As Mayor he is an ex-officio member of all committees and Council's representative on the Castlereagh Macquarie County Council.
Deputy Mayor
Cr Nick White (Independent)Elected Deputy Mayor by the councillors at the December 2025 meeting, following the resignation of the previous Deputy Mayor, Cr Ashley Walker. Cr White chairs Council's Economic Development Committee.
Councillors
9 total — undivided (single ward, elected by proportional representation)
How the Mayor is chosen
Elected by the councillors (not by popular vote); 2-year termThere was no mayoral contest at the 2024 election — the NSW Electoral Commission ran a councillor election only.
Casual vacancies
Filled by countback for the first 18 months of the termCouncil resolved on 8 October 2024 that any casual vacancy arising within 18 months of the 14 September 2024 election be filled by a countback of the votes already cast. That is how Cr Gail Babbage — a councillor from 2020 to 2024 — returned to the chamber in late 2025.

Your representatives

Want to raise something? Contacting your ward councillor or the mayor is one of the most direct ways to be heard between elections.

We list who's in office and link to their official profiles and the election results; we don't characterise anyone's politics. Party labels are those each councillor was elected under at the September 2024 election (NSW Electoral Commission) — all nine candidates declared elected on 1 October 2024 carried an Independent (IND) label. Cr Gail Babbage was not among them: her seat was filled by a casual-vacancy countback in late 2025, and the NSWEC's published declaration lists a group code only for the nine originally elected, so her affiliation is left blank here rather than guessed. Casual vacancies can change the makeup, so the council's official page has the most current list.

Sources — check it yourself

Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.