Terry Molloy has emerged as the comeback king after being rolled twice before in memorable election clean-outs decided on the issues of debt and the museum on the waterfront.

''I'm in again,'' he said happily when the Bay of Plenty Times rang him on Saturday.

He joined Larry Baldock and Max Mason as one of the three new faces on the council, although only Mr Mason had not previously been a councillor.

Mr Molloy won a seat on the Te Papa/Welcome Bay Ward after former ward member Kelvin Clout switched to seeking an at-large seat on the council. The winning margin was a comfortable 324 votes ahead of the ward's highest-polling losing candidate, Murray Guy.

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His previous stints on council had only lasted one term each before he and the majority of other councillors were sacked by voters. This time he put his success down to getting out and about in shopping centres and receiving endorsements from some leading business figures.

''I have never taken elections for granted. I have been tossed out twice already.''

Mr Molloy said he also counted on a solid base of support in Greerton, continuing through to the CBD.

Quizzed about his priorities for the new council, he said the CBD needed a huge amount of support, including to get an international hotel over the line.

Mr Molloy also wanted more action on joint services with the Western Bay of Plenty District Council including merging their District Plans and having wastewater, water supply, stormwater and roading all under one roof.

Mr Baldock said he too was happy to be back on council and to have topped the vote for the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward.

He finished in the bottom half of the contest for the mayoralty, saying he believed it was because there were so many candidates. Mr Baldock said in his view new Mayor Greg Brownless achieved a big profile by gifting his funeral business to the community.

Mr Baldock's second stint on the council from 2010-13 was on the back of Mr Brownless' decision to not seek another term, leaving a seat on the Otumoetai/Bethlehem Ward. However, like Mr Molloy, he was rolled by voters in the 2013 clean-out driven by debt.

His first term on the council was short lived after he swept into Parliament as a List candidate for United Future in 2002 - a year after becoming a councillor.

Mr Baldock said he looked forward to working with Mr Molloy again and would happily work with Mr Brownless. ''He has the experience and was very community focused. I think we have a really good team.''

He said he campaigned strongly on the idea to send out polls to ratepayers in their rates and water bills. ''There are big decisions to be made and we need to get it right by hearing from the community.''