Local Council

Affordable rates and developing a new water plan sit atop incoming Melanie Tavendale's agenda.

Incumbent deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen leads businessman Snow Tane by just five votes.

The three-term councillor replaces Monique Croon, pledging to boost government investment in the remote region.

All sitting Hawke's Bay regional councillors, who ran for re-election, have won back their seats, progress results suggest.

This local body election also marked a continued increase in Pacific representation on the city council.

Sixty-seven votes separate the top two candidates in Whangārei and 74 votes in it in Kaipara.

Getting back to the basics, avoiding tangents and bringing the community along with council decisions will be on the agenda, the incoming McGrath says.

Marie Black is ready to get to back work, after seeing the make-up of her new council.

Queenstown's new mayor John Glover puts win on third attempt down to "giving people hope, and being authentic," pledges to stay focused on community's wishes.

The results are preliminary, as they do not include votes made after Thursday or special votes, but numbers in the government-mandated referendums are not close.

Progress results show a substantial victory for the incumbent in the 'Super City'.

Marcus Buddo hasn't conceded the Hastings mayoralty to rival Wendy Schollum yet.

Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon is back for a third term after a heated campaign, including social media challenges on the council's debt levels.

It's a tight race for the Westland mayoralty, with Hokitika businesswoman Jacquie Grant leading the race against incumbent Helen Lash by just 64 votes. Grant - who has lived as...