THREE incumbent councillors were easily re-elected to Blayney Shire Council on first preference votes alone in Saturday’s local government elections.
THREE incumbent councillors were easily re-elected to Blayney Shire Council on first preference votes alone in Saturday’s local government elections.
Councillors Allan Ewin, Geoff Braddon and Kevin Radburn respectively reclaimed their seats on council with more than 500 first preference votes each.
In a repeat of the 2008 election result and fuelled by a dominant win in Blayney and Millthorpe voting booths, councillor Ewin topped the poll with 681 first preference votes.
Outspoken councillor and Blayney Community Centre critic Geoff Braddon collected 552 votes, a significant increase on his 2008 performance.
Deputy mayor Kevin Radburn also increased his vote in Saturday’s election, collecting 513 votes.
Incumbent councillor Scott Ferguson won 423 votes, just shy of the 471 quota needed to ensure him a place on the council.
Cr Ferguson is expected to take a seat on the new council once preferences are allocated.
David Kingham collected 400 votes, which will almost certainly guarantee him a spot on the new council.
Shane Oates won 293 votes and David Somervaille closely followed with 282, with both set to rely on preferences to get them over the line.
Andrew Baulch collected 217 votes and will likely do battle with Mr Oates and Mr Somervaille to claim the last two seats available on the seven-member council.
Mira Cameron, the only female candidate in the election race, won 152 votes, which will be unlikely to secure her a spot on the council.
Bruce Pine and Peter Hildenbeutel also polled poorly, winning just 102 and 130 votes respectively.
John Collins, the candidate who previously announced he wouldn’t accept a spot on the council if elected because of work commitments, collected 19 votes.
The number of informal votes jumped on election day with 182 voters failing to fill out ballot forms correctly. This figure was up sharply from the 113 informal votes recorded in 2008.
Postal votes and preferences will be allocated over the coming days, with the final makeup of the council expected to be finalised in the coming days.
ryan.young@ruralpress.com
