Bay of Plenty people have voted and chosen who will represent them on the regional council and district council for the next three years.

Following the local government elections on October 8, voters elected a new mayor and 11 councillors for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council as well as 14 Bay of Plenty Regional Councillors.

The confirmed results released today show no change from the preliminary results released on October 9.

Western Bay mayor James Denyer, who was previously a Katikati-Waihī Beach Ward councillor, will govern four new councillors and the seven councillors who stood for re-lection and retained their seats.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor James Denyer.

Newcomer Rodney Joyce joins Anne Henry, Allan Sole in the Katikati-Waihī Beach Ward.

In the Te Puke-Maketu Ward new councillors Andy Wichers and Richard Crawford will sit alongside John Scrimgeour and Grant Dally.

Te Puna resident Tracey Coxhead is a first term Kaimai Ward councillor, she is joined by Murray Grainger, Margaret Murray-Benge and Don Thwaites.

Denyer replaces previous mayor Garry Webber who retired after 12 years on council serving two terms as mayor.

He says the mix of four new councillors and seven current ones is 'about the right number”.

'You don't want to have a situation where you have the same council for 10 years and then everyone gets replaced in one go.

'Because you need that institutional knowledge, but you do need renewal [to] keep getting new ideas, new people.”

Denyer and the elected members will be sworn in at the inaugural meeting on Monday, November 7.

The Western Bay of Plenty also has five community boards with four seats each. The new members are:

Waihī Beach Community Board: Ross Goudie, Heather Marie Guptill, Alan Kurtovich, Dani Simpson.

Katikati Community Board: John Clements, Andy Earl, Norm Mayo, Teresa Sage.

Ōmokoroa Community Board: Ben Bell, Allan Hughes, Greig Neilson, Peter Presland.

Te Puke Community Board: Kassie Ellis, Anish Paudel, Dale Snell, Karen Summerhays.

Maketu Community Board: Rewi Boy Corbett, Tippany Hopping, Laura Rae, Donna Walters.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council is made up of 14 councillors, with 11 of these councillors elected from four general constituencies – Tauranga has five seats, Rotorua, Western Bay of Plenty and Eastern Bay of Plenty have two seats each. Voters on the Māori roll elect one councillor from three Māori constituency areas – Kōhi, Mauao and Ōkurei.

In the Tauranga Constituency two new councillors Ron Scott and Kat Macmillan will sit alongside Stuart Crosby, Andrew von Dadelszen and Paula Thompson.

Māuao constituency councillor Matemoana McDonald was re-elected and in the Western Bay of Plenty constituency first term councillor Ken Shirley joins Jane Nees who retained her seat.

In the Eastern Bay of Plenty Malcolm Campbell and Doug Leeder were elected, while Toi Kai Rākau Iti retained his Kōhi seat and was elected unopposed.

Rotorua regional councillor Kevin Winters and Lyall Thurston are joined by Ōkurei councillor Te Taru White.

Preliminary votes had White behind Reina M Meha by seven votes. The final count put White ahead of Meha by 18 votes.

The regional councillors will be sworn in at the inaugural meeting on October 20.

Tauranga City Council did not hold an election because the four government appointed commissioners will remain until July 2024 when an election will take place.

-Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.