No change to Central Hawke's Bay District Council line-up as election progress results come in

Central Hawke's Bay District Council Mayor Alex Walker is welcoming back a council who have all been re-elected for the next three years. Photo / supplied

Progress results in the local government elections 2022 indicate that Central Hawke's Bay District Council will remain unchanged, and the currently serving councillors and mayor will continue to represent the district into the next triennium.

In August councillors Tim Aitken, Jerry Greer, Brent Muggeridge, and Kate Taylor were re-elected unopposed to represent the Aramoana - Ruahine (Rural) Ward, and Alex Walker was re-elected unopposed as mayor.

This left just a contest for the four Ruataniwha (Urban) Ward seats. Five candidates stood in this ward - Kelly Annand, Pip Burne, Kaye Harrison, Gerard Minehan, and Exham Wichman.

After 90 per cent of the returned votes were counted, the highest polling candidate was Pip Burne with 1780 votes, followed by Gerard Minehan with 1771 votes, Kelly Annand with 1549 votes, and Exham Wichman with 1199 votes. All served as councillors in the previous term. New candidate Kaye Harrison received 873 votes.

This progress result does not include some special votes and votes returned today that are still in transit to the processing centre, meaning the final vote count and result may change once all votes are counted.

Mayor Alex Walker said she is delighted to welcome back the councillors she has worked alongside for one or more terms.

"This is a hardworking team that has brought diverse skills and experience to the council table. Their collaborative decision-making and commitment to putting the community first meant we were able to successfully deliver a broad and challenging programme of work during the last triennium, and this contributed to our CouncilMARK AA rating awarded in early 2022.

"I would also like to thank Kaye Harrison for putting her hat in the ring. The lifeblood of local democracy is the willingness of our people to stand as candidates, and I encourage anyone who has thought about taking a more active role in local government to come and talk to us about how to get involved over the coming three years. I want to involve more people from the community in key decision-making, and you could be part of how we shape that," says Mayor Walker.

Doug Tate, chief executive of Central Hawke's Bay District Council, says: "A big thank-you to all the candidates who stood to represent their communities in this year's elections.

"The role of local government is more important than ever in communities like Central Hawke's Bay as we advocate and champion for local community voice in the face of reform, growth and change on a scale not seen for decades."

Final declarations will be made on Thursday, October 13 once all special and ordinary votes have been counted. A full list of progress results can be found on the council website chbdc.govt.nz/elections