Shelley Burne-Field and Brent Muggeridge are joining Tim Aitken as first-time councillors in Central Hawke's Bay, elected to the Aramoana-Ruahine ward and keen to get on with the job.
Ms Burne-Field was the only woman among 10 candidates standing in the rural ward and said the result overall was a huge message from the community, and for herself one she was pleasantly surprised by.
"I thought it would be a close thing for me to get on, and I'm happy with the result so far," she said, still not totally confident this afternoon that her 225 vote lead ahead of Maitland Manning was enough.
"It's pretty clear that the community wanted change judging by the candidates who look to have got in, and I'm really happy that they are wanting communication and honesty, and to get out there and talk to people."
She said she felt humbled by the support she had received, and looked forward to working with the new council with new mayor Alex Walker at the helm.
"It's going to be really great - when you have a good team you can make things happen."
Mr Muggeridge said he was reasonably confident that he had a shot at a seat in the run-up to the election, but confessed he was surprised that Ms Walker did so well.
"Now we have got to deliver on what we have been talking about."
He said he was looking forward to working with the other councillors who brought a wide range of skills with them.
This afternoon he was continuing his celebration at the Patangata pub, where he was joining some people for a few drinks, but added that he would not be hanging around the disabled toilets.
New councillors looking forward to team work
Brent Muggeridge
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