Progress results released on Saturday were based on about 90% of the returned votes, with all late votes cast on Friday and Saturday morning yet to be announced in the preliminary results yesterday.
Former sitting chairman Nicol Horrell said it was sad to lose some of the councillors who had done a good job over the last trimester, although he thought the newcomers made up a very good council.
‘‘I think when we sit down as a new council, we'll have a good spread of skills and we'll continue continue on - the faces might change, but the issues don't change, and we just continue to have to work with them. But it's always sad to lose hard working councillors.’’
Mr Horrell said he will stand again when the new councillors elect this trimester’s chairperson.
Filling the six vacancies for the Invercargill-Rakiura constituency are returning councillors Eric Roy, Lyndal Ludlow, Neville Cook, and Robert Guyton, who will be joined by newcomers Phil Morrison and Maurice Rodway.
In the Fiordland constituency, newcomer Paul Evans has taken out current councillor Alan Baird.
Jeremy McPhail returns to the table, with agricultural consultant Alistair Gibson winning the second vacancy for the Eastern-Dome constituency.
Peter McDonald returns to the Hokonui constituency after first being elected in 2019, and Jon Pemberton joins the table for the Southern constituency.
Current sitting chairman Horrell ran unopposed for the Western constituency.
- By Ben Tomsett
