Cr McIntosh was unanimously elected by her eight fellow councillors at a mayoral vote at the Town Hall on Monday night.

At the top of her agenda was unifying councillors to work together as a team.

"The best way for us to move forward is recognising the talents and skills of each of the new councillors and working together," she said.

Cr McIntosh was appointed mayor uncontested for the 2016/17 year.

Activating the derelict Civic Hall site was paramount, Cr McIntosh said. 

The fate of council’s mega-library complex plan for the Civic Hall hinged on at least $13 million of outside investment on top of the council $6.7 million set aside for the project. 

“We’ve approved stage one of the works on the site and landscape works are already underway,” she said.

“As a new group of councillors it will now be about us working together to determine stage two of the project to ensure we get it activated as soon as possible.”

Cr McIntosh was a vocal critic of the Ballarat saleyards relocation to Miners Rest and voted against the development last year.

When asked by The Courier if she would revisit the project she remained tight-lipped.

“There’s a number of conversations that will need to be had between the nine councillors and at that stage we will determine the future of the project,” she said.

Newly elected central ward councillor Ballarat doctor Mark Harris, who was mayor from 2011 to 2012, publicly announced his intention to run as mayor on Friday but he withdrew his nomination at the last minute.

Instead, he was unanimously elected as deputy mayor. 

No other councillors put their hand up for the role of deputy mayor.  

Securing a state or federal government department would also be a key focus, Cr McIntosh said.

“There’s obviously already been extensive conversations about the VicRoads relocation to the Civic Hall site and a commitment like that is so important for Ballarat because it means jobs and economic activity,” she said. 

“If that happens to be a commitment we can secure on the Civic Hall site or nearby, then Ballarat will prosper.”  

“As a council it is our responsibility to ensure Ballarat remains at the forefront of government consciousness when decisions are being made.”

When asked about the neglected Ballarat Railway Precinct, Cr McIntosh conceded more needed to be done to get the multi-million dollar revamp off the ground.  

“There needs to be some strong conversation between the state government, local council and community bodies as well to ensure we get the best outcome for that site,” she said.   

Cr McIntosh was a central ward councillor for eight consecutive years before she was re-elected again during the local government election at the end of last month. She said adequately managing population growth, rate capping and cost shifting were among the greatest challenges facing the council.

“Ballarat is one of Australia’s fast growing regional cities and our population is forecast to exceed 140,000 by 2031,” she said. 

“This council will work to ensure planning keeps pace with a changing demographic, to ensure growth is sustainable, and supported by appropriate infrastructure and facilities.”

Cr McIntosh takes the reins from councillor Des Hudson who finished the previous council term as mayor.

She is city’s first female mayor since Judy Verlin stepped down in 2010.

 Cr Harris replaces councillor Belinda Coates as deputy mayor.

It is the first time Cr McIntosh has been elected mayor despite putting her hand up for the role multiple times in previous years. 

Cr McIntosh said she will take a year off from her role as real estate agent at PRD Nationwide to fulfil her mayoral commitments.