In what took two weeks to finalise, the Douglas Shire council for the next four years has been confirmed with two new faces among the councillors.

Officially declared on Easter Sunday, Lisa Scomazzon and Peter McKeown will join Roy Zammataro and Abigail Noli after David Carey decided not to seek re-election and Michael Kerr has enhanced his status from councillor to the shire's second mayor since de-amalgamation in 2014. Kerr succeeds Julia Leu who was first elected six years ago.

Noli, who has served as deputy mayor for the past term, was returned with the narrowest of margins, while the other councillors had healthier victories. Noli canvassed 2944 votes (12.29%) compared to Natalie Johnson’s 2869 (11.98%), a difference of only 75 votes.

The councillors will be sworn in on Thursday after new mayor Michael Kerr was sworn in by Council CEO Mark Stoermer on Easter Sunday.

Mayor Kerr said he was excited and looking forward to working with the councillors.

“There is a nice balance and I am confident we can work well together as a united council. I can also confirm that the Deputy Mayor will be elected on Thursday by the full council,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Council spokesperson said until the social distancing rules no longer apply, future Council meetings will not be open to the public, although they will be recorded.