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UPDATE 6.25pm
IT HAS been an exciting weekend for the nine candidates who have been elected to the City of Greater Bendigo council.
Provisional results were announced on Saturday afternoon and the official declaration will be made on Monday morning.
Just two of the seven councillors of the last term who ran for re-election made it past the finish line: Rod Fyffe in Lockward ward and James Williams in Whipstick.
Matt Emond was elected in Lockwood to his first term on council and said he felt “very humbled” to have been chosen by the ward.
Mr Emond said he looked forward to a “very exciting and very productive four years” of continuing to build Bendigo as a vibrant regional centre.
Yvonne Wrigglesworth, one of the three new representatives of Eppalock ward, said it was both exciting and a relief to have been elected.
As an Axedale resident, she said she was excited to see some more small-town representation on the incoming council.
Ms Wrigglesworth thanked those who had believed in her and said she was humbled and honoured to have been elected.
Her fellow successful Eppalock ward candidate Margaret O’Rourke said she was looking forward to getting down to work in her new role.
“I’m thrilled and I feel so appreciative that the people of Eppalock have given me this opportunity,” Ms O’Rourke said.
UPDATE 5.50pm
THE people who will sit on the City of Greater Bendigo council for the next four years have been revealed with the announcement of the provisional election results.
George Flack, Yvonne Wrigglesworth and Margaret O’Rourke have been elected in Eppalock ward, Rod Fyffe, Matt Emond and Jennifer Alden in Lockwood ward, and Andrea Metcalf, Julie Hoskin and James Williams in Whipstick ward.
EARLIER
THE City of Greater Bendigo’s new councillors are set to be revealed on Saturday afternoon.
The provisional results of the council elections are scheduled to be announced at 5pm, with official results to be released on Monday morning.
It could be a tight race in at least Whipstick ward, with one scrutineer telling the Bendigo Advertiser on Friday that he had “never seen one so close”.
“Any number of five or six candidates could win – it will all come down to how preferences flow,” Neil Hamilton said.
Early figures from Eppalock ward also suggested it could be a close finish.
As it stands, the new crop of councillors will receive an annual salary of $28,907, while the mayor will pocket $92,333 – the maximum allowances available to a council the size of the City of Greater Bendigo.
Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the elections provided an ideal opportunity for the council to “start anew and build a strong culture of good conduct and governance”.