Timaru District Mayor Nigel Bowen has been re-elected for a third successive term in resounding fashion after receiving more votes than the other two mayoral candidates combined.
The preliminary results, released on Sunday, revealed Mr Bowen would be returning to his seat again after receiving 8228 votes while fellow candidates Stu Piddington and Peter Bennett received 4547 and 2782 respectively.
Mr Bowen said he was very happy to have been re-elected.
‘‘It’s a community I really care about and I’m excited to have another three years to drive our district forward.
‘‘I think the election results are actually a reflection on our council as a whole. It hasn’t really changed a lot and I think that gives us the mandate to keep moving forward in the direction that we’ve been going.’’
While many seats around the Timaru district remained unchanged, Geraldine Ward incumbent Gavin Oliver (1083 votes) was ousted from his seat by Philip Harper (1252 votes).
In the Timaru Ward incumbents Stacey Scott, Stu Piddington, Owen Jackson and Peter Burt were all re-elected.
With the departure of Sally Parker and Allan Booth, who decided to not seek re-election, Graeme Wilson and Chris Thomas have picked up the remaining two seats.
Pleasant Point-Temuka Ward incumbents Michelle Pye and Scott Shannon were also both reelected.
Mr Bowen said he was looking forward to getting to work with the three new Timaru district councillors.
‘‘I met with them all this morning [Tuesday] and had one-on-ones for an hour.
‘‘I’m really excited to see what the new blood can bring and how they can help to contribute to the wider grouping.’’
He said the initial meetings would be about setting up a governance structure that reflected the council’s restructure.
‘‘Also a governance structure that can focus in on the priorities of council for the next three years.
‘‘These are things that we do need to reconsider again with new elected members.
‘‘However, there’s going to be a real focus across planning, building and economic development and also further focus on key infrastructure such as water and roading.’’
He was also looking forward to getting to work with some of the new members elected to the other district councils across South Canterbury.
‘‘I think it’s good to see some new blood in the councils around us as well. We’re really excited about being able to work closer together with the three South Canterbury councils.
‘‘I’ve always been a believer that if we work closely together, we can all save money for our ratepayers.
‘‘I think that’s an opportunity staring us in the face that we just need to make a reality as far as elected members and I’m confident that we can do that.’’
Around the Timaru district, the Geraldine Community Board seats were filled by Sarah Foley-Smith, Andy McKay, Rachel Wilson, Shane Minnear, Rosemary Woods and Jan Finlayson.
Anna Lyon, Leanne Fifield, Cale Toomey, Kathy Wilkins and Amy-lee Trainor will make up the Pleasant Point Community Board and Charles Scarsbrook, Alison Talbot, Nicola Nimo, Kathy Campbell and John Jackson will serve as the elected members for the Temuka Community Board.
Elected to the Geraldine Licensing Trust were Jo Hewson, Dan Cummings, John Wilson, Sally Houston, Nicola Donkers and Rosemary Woods.
The voter return for the Timaru district was 47.64%, being 16,008 votes, excluding special votes.
The first post-election council meeting is set for October 28.
