Robert Bell reelected Uralla mayor, wins three of four votes in popular election

Cr Bell is the region's second popularly-elected mayor after comprehensively defeating Isabel Strutt and Natasha Ledger in the poll of Uralla residents.

Unlike most councils, Uralla directly elects its mayor, rather than electing councillors who select one themselves.

He won 2,823 votes out of the town's 3,781 formal votes, after preferences.

Cr Bell said he had been "quietly confident" about getting reelected to the top job.

His first priorities were to make Uralla an easy place for developers to invest, to reengage with the community and to tighten up financial management of the council.

"We've had a number of developers say they were frustrated working in Uralla," he said.

"Uralla used to be one of the good places to work. I'm keen for them to find out what the particular issues are and deal with them as quickly as possible."

The result of the vote for Uralla Shire Council's ordinary councillors will be declared on Wednesday.

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