Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler said he had no idea what to expect leading up to the final result but concluded that "it went out to the whole of Hawke's Bay and Hawke's Bay has spoken".
In Central Hawke's Bay, the afternoon's provisional result showed 3,608 people voted against amalgamation while 2,608 were in favour and the voter return was at 64.55 per cent - ten per cent higher than the return for the local body elections in 2013.
"I think people listened to the arguments and because this was a single issue item there was a higher voter turnout," Mr Butler said.
Although not a landslide, he took the result as endorsement of the stance he adopted when elected and has held ever since.
