John Lane, of Roxburgh, and Terry Emmitt, of Cromwell, who were unsuccessful in their bids for a sixth term on council, make up two-thirds of the council's hearings panel, which considers resource consent applications.
Their local government experience spans more than two decades, as both have served seven terms on their respective community boards. Mr Lane admitted yesterday his ''calculated gamble'' in standing for the Alexandra ward rather than his home ward of Roxburgh ''didn't work out''.
He had served the past five terms as the Teviot Valley's sole representative on the council but decided to step aside this election, with the aim of Roxburgh Community Board chairman Stephen Jeffery gaining a council seat.
Mr Lane was also an advocate of elections being held at large and maintained councillors should represent the whole district and not just their own ward. He was disappointed to poll fifth out of six candidates for the three Alexandra ward seats on the council at this election.
''It was going to be an interesting and difficult term this time, with the district plan review and the three waters discussion among other things, and I'm sorry I'm going to miss that. I'm even more sorry to see Terry go from the council.''
Mr Emmitt was the highest-polling unsuccessful candidate in both the Cromwell ward of the council and the community board race. He polled 295 votes behind Shirley Calvert for a council seat and 32 votes behind Helen Hucklebridge for a place on the board.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper, who was returned for a second term, said the two men would be ''sorely missed'', particularly for their knowledge of the Resource Management Act. He would explore the possibility of them being appointed to the hearings panel as commissioners.
''We've lost a lot of knowledge and experience with the departure of that pair and both have made a great contribution to the council over the years ... but I guess their departure is democracy in action,'' Mr Lepper said.
Mr Lane said the two men acting as panel commissioners would probably be a short-term measure until other councillors were ''up to speed''. His immediate plans for the future included longer hours working on Mr Jeffery's orchard.
''Until now, I probably spent more hours of the week on council business than on the orchard, so that'll be changing.''
As a Roxburgh hotelier, he was also looking forward to seeing what impact the new cycle trails in the district had on business. He would follow the progress of the new council with interest and had no regrets about his time in local body politics.
Mr Lane ruled out standing for the by-election to fill the vacancy on the Teviot Valley Community Board, which was formerly known as the Roxburgh board. Mr Emmitt could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
