Ashburton’s new mayor Liz McMillan will be sworn into office at the end of the month, alongside her newly-elected district councillors and the Methven Community Board.

Final results of the Local Elections are expected at the end of the week, but in the preliminary results Mayor McMillan received 5898 votes, nearly 4000 votes clear of her rivals.

The mayor elect said she had been humbled by the support of family, friends and the community.

“I want to thank them for their faith in me and I’m really excited to lead this district for the next three years. I’ve learned a lot in my time on council and it was a privilege having Neil Brown as a mentor.

“My job now is to bring this new council together and make the most of the skills and passion they bring to the table, as we’re all in this together.

“We’ve got the new three waters unit to embed, roads and essential council services to maintain, and a second bridge to bring home.”

Elected in the Ashburton Ward were Phill Hooper, Carolyn Cameron, Tony Todd, Russell Ellis and Julie Moffett. The Western Ward councillors are Jeanette Maxwell and Deb Gilkison; the Eastern Ward councillors are Richard Wilson and Phill Everest.

The Methven Community Board members elected are Faye Barrand, Megan Fitzgerald, Robin Jenkinson, Richie Owen and Simon Wareing.

Chief Executive Hamish Riach said there were about 200 special votes to be added to the voting tally, once they were checked and declared valid.

“We know that there was quite a last-minute rush to vote, with just over 700 envelopes in the ballot bins in the 24 hours up to voting closing at noon on Saturday. The voter return is sitting at 45.78 per cent, which is down on the previous local elections.”

The new mayor will meet with councillors and Mr Riach this week, and elected members will attend an induction workshop, to give them an overview of council business and a chance to talk about the governance structure.

Next week, Mayor McMillan will attend a mayors’ hui in Wellington while new councillors will attend a Local Government induction in Christchurch.

The inaugural council meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday 29 October, starting at 1.30pm.