Cr Henderson was elected to the position ahead of Stephen Gardner at a special meeting of council on Tuesday night with Max Lesser elected to the deputy mayor position.

It is Cr Henderson's third term as mayor after serving from October, 2014, to October, 2016. She takes over from Bronwen Machin.

Cr Henderson has served on council for almost 11 years after first being elected in 2008.

"It's always a great honour to be mayor," she said. "At the end of last term, I had had my run and was happy to take a back seat.

"After three years out, I thought I could contribute again. I am a bit older and a bit wiser and it's a different situation with a different council."

Cr Lesser was elected to council after he won a second countback for a vacant position in March, 2018.

Robin Taylor quit council in February, 2018. The first countback was won by Christopher Cole who declined the role.

Cr Henderson said in the next 12 months she hoped to helped deliver council's current plans.

"We want to see a good job done over the (remainder of the term)," she said. "It's not so much about innovation as it is driving (current projects) to completion and laying the groundwork for a new council to come in and work with community."

Projects Cr Henderson hoped to drive forward included streetscape plans for Maldon.

"The Maldon streetscape plan has had a lot of input from the community," she said. "It has been strongly endorsed and part of that is (providing) underground power the power in the main street.

"There is a lot of agreement on it but it takes money. It won't come cheap and we need state government support."

Cr Henderson also hopes to fund a levy plan to prevent future flooding in Castlemaine.

She said areas of concern included where the Barkers and Forest creeks meet, the area around the botanic gardens and parts of Campbells Creek.

"We have had serious flood events in the past and that will happen again," she said. "We know we need those levies in Castlemaine to protect parts of the town from flooding.

"We were told when developing a levy plan along with the Catchment Management Authority, that there could be funding from the state and federal government - it seems that money has dried up.

"We can't afford the millions it would cost and need government support. It is something we have to pursue."

Cr Henderson thanked previous Cr Machin for her contribution and also paid tribute to her fellow councillors.

"Cr Machin has done a terrific job in all aspects of the role and has worked extremely hard at all levels in representing our community and shire," Cr Henderson said.

"In my experience on Council for more than 10 years, this is the best yet. We each bring a diverse range of views, expertise and opinions. I think we are in a great place and I look forward to the challenges ahead."

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