New Maketu-Te Puke Ward councillor, and unsuccessful mayoral candidate for the Western Bay District Council Mike Lally said he was pleased to see Te Puke residents supported him.

Mr Lally was spending the evening with friends and family when he spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times about the 2016 election.

"I'm a little bit disappointed I missed out on mayor, anyone would. But what I'm really happy about is I was the highest poller on the [Te Puke] Community Board."

Mr Lally, who had previously been on the Western Bay Council, received 1418 votes for the Community Board, and came in third place in the Maketu-Te Puke Ward with 1612 votes, behind John Scrimgeour on 1746 and Kevin Marsh on 1795.

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"The townspeople supported me, that was terribly important for me," Mr Lally said.

"At the end of the day I have to be quite happy the way it turned out for me.

"I never forgot about Te Puke. There is a lot of hard work in front of us, particularly in Te Puke for the rates, it's just too high. Those are the real issues I've campaigned on."

"We have people selling their homes and leaving town. They cant afford it, they're pensioners."