Kirsten Wise announced as new Napier mayor

Napier's new mayor has confirmed there will be a pause on the new pool, and said one of her first calls will be to Christchurch to discuss chlorine-free water.

Kirsten Wise, who won the Napier mayoral race by 8000 votes, has been a vocal opponent of the new pool.

"Absolutely the pool is going to be pressed pause on."

She said the next step, whether it be reconsulting or going back to the drawing board, would happen shortly.

In regards to the other major election issue, dechlorinating the city's water supply, Wise said she was thrilled Christchurch's mayor, Lianne Dalziel, had been re-elected.

"Obviously Christchurch is leading the charge there, and Lianne has been driving that, so I will be ringing her tomorrow."

Another project for the city is a new library building. Wise says her preference is to return to the old building. Consultation is expected early next year.

"The other thing I've been speaking about quite a bit lately is council chambers, and obviously we have been sharing with regional council.

"From my perspective, that's an option to continue with. Why spend millions of dollars to build a council chamber which essentially only gets used one day of the week or half a day of the week anyway, when it's working really well sharing."

Kirsten Wise after the election results were announced. Photo / Paul Taylor

She said she was thrilled with the councillors who have been elected, saying it was great to see a 50/50 gender spilt and a second Māori councillor.

"I think we have got a really good, diverse, dynamic team."

Wise beat Chris Tremain, David Hannay and Steve Gibson.

With 95 per cent of the vote counted, Wise had 12,757 votes, beating Chris Tremain, who came in second, by more than 8000.

Wise, who was in the supermarket when she found out she had won, said it felt a bit surreal when she heard the news.

"I am absolutely thrilled with the result.

"To win so conclusively and to really know that I've got that community mandate, now to move forward is awesome."

She said she was surprised by the landslide victory.

"The whole way through the campaign I was constantly reminding myself, you know, you've got tough competition.

"I had confidence in myself and my ability to win, but I certainly never thought I would win by that margin."

She said her next step would be to meet councillors next week.

"There's a few things I just want to get stuck into as quickly as possible, so I will be looking forward to meeting the new council as soon as possible next week."

She said it had been a good, clean, enjoyable campaign.

"All four of us just got stuck in and it was good to have so many events that we got an opportunity to go out and talk to the community.

"I just congratulate all of them for putting their hat in the ring and getting stuck into it."

Tremain said he wanted to congratulate Wise.

"She ran a strong campaign and deserves the win.

"I wish her and the new council all the best for the next three years."

The council includes new membersHayley Browne in the Ahuriri ward, Sally Crown and Greg Mawson in Nelson Park and Ronda Chrystal and Nigel Simpson in Taradale.

Returning councillors are Keith Price in Ahuriri, Annette Brosnan and Richard McGrath in Onekawa-Tamatea, Maxine Boag and Api Tapine in Nelson Park, and Graeme Taylor and Tania Wright in Taradale.

Napier's voter turnout was higher than in 2016, at 47.35 per cent, up from 43.85 per cent at the last local body elections.

The return is similar to the last contested mayoral election in 2013, which had a turnout of 47.76 per cent.