'It's not the parliamentary debating chamber': Hawke's Bay Regional Council sees a new balance

One of the new Hawke's Bay Regional Councillors says Saturday's results show people were unhappy with the way the region was being run, but the current chairman says the image of a divided council is wrong.

Former Tukituki MP for National, Craig Foss, has won a spot on the table based on progress results, unseating incumbent Tom Belford in the process.

Foss, who ran on the slogan "the right balance," said the council should be a board of nine individuals, rather than having a "us versus them" mentality around the table.

"It's not the parliamentary debating chamber for goodness sake," Foss said.

"It's just nine elected people doing their best and they will agree on many things and they will disagree on some things."

He said he had spoken to many people across the campaign who were unhappy with the way regional council was being run.

"Many people that approached me over recent months expressed huge dissatisfaction with the balance of the council not representing the views of some parts of Hawke's Bay and our community."

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The current chairman of the regional council, Rex Graham, said the perception of the council being divided was inaccurate.

The regional council was often perceived as having two groups, one colloquially known as "The Romans," made up of Graham, Rick Barker, Neil Kirton, Tom Belford and Peter Beaven with Paul Bailey also a friend of the group.

The divide formed over the Ruataniwha Dam scheme, the so-called Romans winning power in 2016 on an anti-dam platform.

Graham said, excluding the dam, the council was united on many issues, but was also able to handle disagreement.

"Within the what is perceived as the Romans, we often disagreed with each other, so it was a council that was able to disagree, get over disagreement and then vote for the good of the region."

"There were no leaks from this council, so despite the fact that people said we were a bit contentious, everybody acted honourably, every single councillor acting honourably."

He said he believed the council would retain its focus on environmentalism over the next three years.

As well as Foss, Hinewai Ormsby, Martin Williams, Will Foley and Jerf van Beek will make up the new faces on the regional council.

Neil Kirton and Rick Barker, along with Graham, have been re-elected to their seats.

The Wairoa vote is too close to call, with Charles Lambert ahead of incumbent Fenton Wilson by 40 votes based on progress results.