Mr Hatcher secured 22.2 per cent of the primary mayoral election vote. After preferences, he was elected Mayor with 7,797 votes (53.8 per cent) over Karyn Starmer of The Mayne Team with 6,691 votes (46.2 per cent).

In an interview with The Bay Post, Mr Hatcher said "It is a great honour and I am very privileged to be elected".

"I came here 20 years ago and this shire stole my heart within a week," he said. "I knew I never wanted to leave."

His first goal is "to get council open and transparent and bring community in".

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"It is important the community feels like it is being heard," Mr Hatcher said.

"Communication out of council has to be effective. Community want to see council working for them."

Community involvement was at the heart of Mr Hatcher's campaign, and he wants to continue to bring the community along through the process.

"It's not the mayor that runs the show - it is nine elected officials," he said.

"The community are the ones that put us there. We are the mouthpiece of the community. They need to come along with us. We need to keep them engaged."

Mr Hatcher stressed this includes all people.

"This includes the indigenous community, and it's important we acknowledge them and bring everyone along," he said.

He also wants to focus on the young demographic in the region.

"We have to engage with youth because they are the future," he said. "Every decision we are making we are making for them. They inherit the shire of the future."

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Mr Hatcher said his team would continue with their communication strategy leading up to the election - pushing messages on social media, and connecting with people.

"Our Councilors will stay active and engaged with the community, so we know what people want," he said.

"My door is always open. I am committed to inclusion and collaboration. I am always happy to meet with anybody from any group who wants to meet and has a concern about the community."

He is looking forward to running with a diverse range of councilors with different opinions.

"We all ran for change, and I know we will work well together," he said.

"It is vital to have people with very different ideas all in the council: It makes for a better council. It makes for better engagement.

"The quicker we can work with the state and federal governments, the better we can get the job done."

He said he was excited to have the other councilors announced, which should be confirmed later this week.

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Mr Hatcher said the election was especially hard with the difficulties of COVID-19, but he was proud of his team and their hard work.

"Being elected Mayor is a clear mandate from the voters and that's a testament to all the people who worked behind the scenes - printing materials, standing at voting booths," he said. "There is always a team behind these campaigns."

Mr Hatcher's independent ticket has secured 20.3 per cent of the vote in the Councilor elections.