ELECTION results are in for five of the 13 councils in the northern region: Glen Innes, Gwydir, Liverpool Plains, Tenterfield and Walcha Shire Councils.
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The seven councillors elected to the Liverpool Plains Shire Council were announced yesterday morning.
In order of election, the seven councillors for the shire are: Ian Lobsey, Ken Cudmore, Rob Webster, Mary Roberts, Andrew Laurie, Andrew Hope and Col Stewart.
The results see incumbent mayor Ian Lobsey and councillors Andrew Laurie and Col Stewart return to the chamber with some fresh faces.
Three councillors to serve following the 2008 elections – Fiona Simson, Colleen Wills and Bernie Perkins – did not stand for re-election this time around.
Councillor Lobsey, who returns for his third term, said the council would face a number of challenges into the future.
“We are always fighting for road funding because the proportion of gross domestic product we get keeps slipping down,” he said.
Mining is another major challenge the council is likely to face.
“More in terms of how we meet the demands mining places on infrastructure and and the costs of maintaining that infrastructure,” Cr Lobsey said.
Employment and how to generate more of it in the shire will continue to be a priority, according to Cr Lobsey.
“It’s always important to have employment opportunities and be able to attract sustainable projects, that generate employment, to the area,” he said.
He also suggested council
sustainability was important.
“That’s important all the time, but especially at the moment because there is a review of local government underway,” he said.
Mr Lobsey said he was looking forward to working with a productive team of councillors and thanked outgoing councillor Paul Moules for his “significant” contribution to the Shire during the previous term.
Liverpool Plains Shire councillors will participate in an induction on September 20, ahead of their first meeting on Wednesday, September 26, when mayoral and deputy
mayoral elections will be held.
Results were also returned in Glen Innes, Gwydir and Walcha overnight on Tuesday.
The final results from the elections in the Gunnedah Shire were expected to be announced yesterday morning, but at lunchtime yesterday a complete recount of ballots, from the first redistribution was called.
The recount was called after the election manager realised a minor error had been made in the calculation of the quota of votes needed to achieve a council seat.
Counters had been working on a 702 quota following the preliminary count, rather than the 701 votes actually calculated.
Gunnedah’s returning officer, Ian Horwood, said while the recount was unlikely to “materially change” the results, it still needed to happen.
“It is most important accuracy takes precedence over time,” he said.
“The process of counting has to comply in every detail.”
It’s likely that the Gunnedah Shire’s results will be available later this afternoon, when the recount has been completed and checked.
The only two seats cemented in the Gunnedah chamber yesterday, and unlikely to be affected by the recount, were that of former mayor Gae Swain and incumbent councillor Colleen Fuller.
The allocation of preferences continued for Tamworth, Armidale Dumaresq, Guyra Shire, Inverell Shire, Narrabri Shire and Uralla Shire councils yesterday.
Final results from those elections are anticipated later today.