MEDIA RELEASE

9 October 2010

Progress results show five new councillors for EW

Environment Waikato is likely to have five new councillors based on progress results received by 5.30pm today.

They are Lois Livingston in the Hamilton constituency, Theresa Stark in Central Waikato, Philip Legg in Matamata-Piako and Russ Rimmington and Stu Kneebone, in Waipa-King Country.

In the Hamilton constituency where eight candidates contested four seats, incumbents Paula Southgate, Tony Armstrong and Jane Hennebry have been returned. Lois Livingston has been successful in her bid to get back on the council after losing her seat in the 2007 election.

Laurie Burdett (Taupo), Norm Barker (South Waikato) and Simon Friar (Thames-Coromandel) have all been returned.

EW’s chair for the past three years, Peter Buckley, was earlier elected unopposed in the North Waikato-Hauraki constituency.

John Fisher (Waipa-King Country), Frank Healey (Matamata-Piako) and Pat Gregory (Hamilton) have been defeated in their respective constituencies.

Two councillors retired from EW this election. Andra Neeley stepped down from the Waipa-King Country seat she had held for 12 years, while Ian Balme also retired after six years with EW, the past three in the Central Waikato constituency.

While the vast majority of votes have been counted, special votes and voting papers delivered this morning to the offices of the 11 constituent territorial authorities in the EW region are yet to be included in these results.

Once these remaining votes are counted, preliminary results will be available on the website www.ew.govt.nz on Monday, 11 October 2010. Declaration of the final results is expected to be published late next week on the website and in newspapers.

Results have been ranked in descending order from most to least votes. Successful candidates in bold.

Constituency – Central Waikato (1 seat)

Candidate Name Progress Results
STARK, Theresa 3011
MAHUTA, Tipa 1630
MCLEAN, Neil 1313
WOODWARD, Garth 1100

Constituency – Hamilton (4 seats)

Candidate Name Progress

Results
SOUTHGATE, Paula 19,107
LIVINGSTON, Lois 14,720
ARMSTRONG, Anthony 13,527
HENNEBRY, Jane 13,211
SOWRY, Guy 11,790
GREGORY, Pat 11,108
LAWRENCE, Jane 10,184
LLOYD, Rhys 8660

Constituency – Matamata-Piako (1 seat)

Candidate Name Progress Results
LEGG, Phillip 3990
HEALEY, Frank 3923

Constituency – North Waikato Hauraki (1 seat)

Candidate Name Result (final)
BUCKLEY, Peter Elected unopposed

Constituency – South Waikato Rotorua (1 seat)

Candidate Name Progress

Results
BARKER, Norm 3090
STEWART, Neil 2794

Constituency – Taupo (1 seat)

Candidate Name Progress

Results
BURDETT, Laurie 6350
HORNER, David 4220

Constituency – Thames Coromandel (1 seat)

Candidate Name Progress

Results
FRIAR, Simon 4826
GRAF, Clyde 4405
SIELING, Dirk 3001

Constituency – Waipa King Country (2 seats)

Candidate Name Progress

Results
RIMMINGTON, Russ 7770
KNEEBONE, Stuart 7604
FISHER, John 6217
DeHAAN, Doreen 4671

What is Environment Waikato?

Environment Waikato is the regional council for the Waikato region.

The council’s area extends from the Bombay Hills in the north to Mt Ruapehu in the south, and from the mouth of the Waikato River to Mokau on the west coast, across to the Coromandel Peninsula on the east.

The region contains nationally important electricity generation facilities and an internationally significant dairy sector. It is also home to iconic natural features which are key tourist attractions.

Environment Waikato’s responsibilities include:

• sustainable management of natural and physical resources, including pest control.
• planning regional growth and transport, and providing bus services.

• civil defence, emergency response, navigation safety, dam safety, flood management, erosion control and road safety.

ENDS

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